


Of Penguin, Food, and A Certain Blonde

by lazymusey



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Tried, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:34:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 50,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25928968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazymusey/pseuds/lazymusey
Summary: Mina got food delivered to her on the nights she decided to stay back after class at college.The thing is, she never ordered them.Or the MiMo sequel no one asked for from my SaTzu oneshotsWhy Am I Here
Relationships: Chou Tzuyu/Minatozaki Sana, Hirai Momo/Myoui Mina
Comments: 35
Kudos: 117





	1. How it began

It is another hectic day for the newly elected Vice President of the student council, having endless of paperworks to sign and complaints to look through, even though it is just the beginning of the semester. The clock just ticked to 10 PM, and she is surprised it’s already this late. She cursed Jihyo for giving her this job when it was supposed to be hers.

_“It’s not my fault you’re more popular than me, Mina. Sorry and good luck!” She patted her back in pity, before happily skipping away without a care of the world._

She still keep it as a grudge when Jihyo lose to her in the student council election by one vote. Yes, one vote, people. It wasn’t even her intention to take part as a candidate, she was forced (more like baited) by her bestfriend in the spur of the moment. She even hate it when the President seat was announced; oh don’t get her even started on that lazy asshole who only has charming looks void of brain.

While shoving her belongings in her bag, she realized the loud bass sound had disappeared. She feels strange that the dance room is located in the same floor as the student council office. It's a nuisance when the song being blasted is louder than the President’s voice during their briefings or meeting sessions, and his vocal cord would be strained each time. Imagine when it was Mina’s turn to speak, even with the aid of a megaphone would be rendered useless. However, at times when she is left alone in the room, it becomes a blessing of some sort. The sound will usually accompany Mina, keeping the vice president alert and focused while vibing to some of the familiar beats.

Perhaps the students using the dance room had already left, Mina thought. Feeling a bit anxious of being alone, Mina quickly steps out of the room and locks it, before making a dash towards the elevator. There are still some students lounging around the lobby when she reaches the ground floor. She lets out the breath she unconsciously held when she was inside the moving box.

She can feel her stomach rumbling for attention, patting it softly with a mental note to stop by the convenience store near her dorm. She didn’t bring her car today, thinking to cut some cost on gas and save money. Besides, the journey between her college and dorm only takes about 15 minutes by walking. She’s in the mood for a night stroll, after all. Stopping on a crossroad, Mina lightly jogs across the empty road towards the 24-hours convenience store. She doesn’t feel that hungry, just need something light to keep her stomach satisfied before hitting the sack for a well deserved rest.

Scanning the shelf with variety of bread to choose, she suddenly feels eyes on her. She ignores it, thinking it was just her paranoid hypersensitivity to her surroundings. But the more she ignores it, the more uneasy she feels. She quickly grabs a melon pan, wanting to disappear from whoever the creep is.

“...food sucks.”

She stops on her heels as she turns to the perpetrator on a whim. She is met with a girl with shoulder-length blonde hair staring at the packet of melon bread in her hand.

“Excuse me?”

She points to Mina’s hand, “Your choice of food sucks.”

_Who the hell..._

Mina wants to lash back but she’s not in a proper state right now; she’s already drained from the student council work. Being the civil person she is, Mina turns around without a word, wanting nothing more than reach the counter and leave this place as soon as possible. In the middle of rummaging her purse for cash, another hand had slammed a couple of notes to the register. She watches in confusion as the stranger placed two _onigiri_ , a _katsu sando_ and a box of chocolate milk on the counter.

“Add these too, please.”

Mina is stunned with what’s going on, the intensity of her stun increasing when the plastic bag is presented to her. Getting no reaction from the stunned Mina, the girl takes her hand and shoves the plastic in her grasp, before pushing herl out of the sliding glass door and disappearing inside to pay for her snack.

It happened so fast, leaving Mina in a jumbled state with her mouth agape as she’s having a hard time trying to process what’s going on. Not wanting to have debt with a stranger, Mina wait for the girl to come out. To her surprise, her presence was ignored blatantly as the blonde girl heads to the opposite direction while munching on a gummy.

“Yah!” The girl turns around, raising her eyebrow while loudly munching.

“What’s this?” Mina raised the plastic bag, only to receive a shrug.

“Your dinner.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry, it’s on me.”

Mina was surprised from the nonchalant reply, which irates her more. “Do I look like someone who needs charity? For your information, I can buy whatever I want in that store and I can take care of myself well.”

“But you need proper food to live.”

“I’m living fine and my body is healthy and fit enough, mind you.”

To Mina’s chagrin, she received a scoff followed by an annoying smirk as the blonde sizes her up and down, her eyes pausing on some parts that Mina doesn’t even want to mention, before leaving a comment that Mina swear she will never forget until doomsday come.

“A penguin can look better than that.”

*

Sana guffawed loudly after listening to Mina’s encounter last night. She was really worried to see Mina waking up on the wrong side of the bed. The first thing she noticed was the usually quiet girl kicking off the blanket onto the floor, loudly groaning into her pillow, slamming the poor bathroom’s door and stomping her usually silent feet with so much force, she wonders if the neighbors downstairs were alerted by a false alarm of an earthquake.

“Seriously, a penguin? Can you imagine that?”

Sana is rolling on her bed still cackling, amused by Mina’s reaction.

“Yah, Sana! Stop laughing!”

“Okay, sorry!” She wipes her teary eyes. “It’s just- why are you so affected by it?”

“...what?”

The older nods while walking to the dresser to fix her hair. “She’s a stranger, and it’s just a one time thing anyway. It’s impossible for you to meet again, right?”

Her eyebrows knitted, thinking of the logic behind Sana’s reasoning. She’s right, why was she so troubled by the incident? She’s usually the one with a rational head in this room.

“Besides, you literally finished all the food last night.” Sana smirks, her lips jutting to the bin. Mina loudly huffs while raising a palm. “Don’t even. Just, don’t.”

Sana gives her a shrug before a series of knocks interrupts them. The latter jumps giddily as she rushes to the door. “That’s my cue! See you at college, Mina!”

Mina waves her off, not before giving a small smile to the tall girl waiting by the door who responded with a timid bow. Sighing to herself, Mina gets ready for the day with high hopes that the incident last night won’t affect her for the whole day.

She spoke too soon, however, when she was in the cafeteria to have a light lunch before studying for a short quiz later. She almost bumped into someone with her tray of food, but her quick reflexes thankfully forbids her from having an accident among the crowd of students.

“Ah, sorry-”

“Oh? Penguin!”

A frown.

A really deep frown appears as she raised her head to the nasal voice. Figures, it’s the blonde from last night. Their eyes meet in a staring contest of amusement and confusion, before the girl averts her eyes to Mina’s tray. She follows her line of view, seeing her choice of salad bowl and an orange juice. She heard a sigh, the blonde shaking her head in disapproval.

“W-What?”

“Again?”

Mina was about to ask what’s wrong, only to be ignored once more as the blonde whizzes past her to cue in line. What kind of horror déjà vu story is this?

“Weirdo.” She comments to herself before finding a vacant seat among the sea of hungry students. It was only the afternoon, but Mina already feels exhausted. More so after knowing the stranger is a student here. She cheers to herself, bracing for the accidental meet-ups they’re going to have in the future, god forbids. Just as she pokes a piece of lettuce, a wrapped sandwich lands on her table. Surprised, she looks around to see who left it, only to find a retreating blonde head leaving the cafeteria.

*

If everyone was cursing the calculus professor for the surprise quiz, Mina is an exception as she calmly walk out of the class with a smile; a tight straight-lined smile. She almost got all of them correct, minus that one tricky question she had forgotten the formula of. So here she is in the library in the evening, where you should be taking a long nap like a normal college student, Mina instead is burying her nose in the hill of opened books and scattered notes trying to find the right solution of that one freaking question she missed. It was her 5th attempt of doing the calculation when out of nowhere, a sound disrupts her focus.

**_*crunch*_ **

Her right eye twitches. She looks around for the uninvited noise, only to find all the tables unoccupied. It’s half past 5 in the evening after all, makes sense for the void of students in the library. Perhaps it was just the noise of the dried leaves outside-

**_*crunch crunch*_ **

Her head whips to the sound. She narrows her eyes curiously on the shelves of books, before making her way to the dark rows on the back. She carefully examines each row, the sound to getting louder as she nears the back area. She sees movement, of something yellowish bright on the dark corner, together with rustling of plastic and flipping of pages.

**_*crunch crunch crunch*_ **

“Food is forbidden in the library, you know?”

Mina puts on her authoritative stance to scare the offending student, only for it to falter the second she saw the almost familiar face.

“Ah! Penguin!”

She face-palms with a groan, both from the presence and the nickname she received.

“What are you doing here?”

“Eating.” She answered with a smile, unbothered with Mina’s obvious displeasure. “Want some?”

The loud crunching just seems to infuriate her more before her eyes caught the open book on the blonde’s hand. Her face churns in discomfort from the images, clearly uncomfortable from the explicit pictures of the anatomy book.

“How can you eat that while looking at those... graphics?” She asked with a grimace, only to receive a nonchalant shrug.

“A senior told me I can find some “entertainment” in here. You know, about sex and stuff...”

She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively but Mina was having none of it. She brisks back to her table with a red face, shoving everything in her bag to quickly get out of that place and blow off some steam. Maybe a game or two in her laptop or phone, anything to keep her mind off that annoying blonde. There are two things she loath the most in her life; a rule breaker, and a pervert.

*

Mina had just finished her meeting with the student council committees, proud that her proposal for a charity project is approved by the members.

_“Since it’s your brilliant idea, you’re going to lead the project.” The lazy president said._

She didn't mind being the leader, she honestly wanted to be the one entrusted for this project. Now she has things in her hand, Mina begins making arrangement as the meeting is adjourned.

“This is a separate team from the main members so everything we discuss or do, is under my direct supervision.”

The others nod after a brief introduction of their project. They are talking while walking out of the student council room to save time, some need to rush for their next class while others already had their own prior engagement. Mina is just having small talk with them when she noticed a group of noisy students coming from the opposite direction.

Then, she sees an eye sore.

Did she mention she loathes two kind of people? Because at the center of attention was none other than the irksome blonde who clearly fit the two types she hates the most. A pulsing vessel pops out on her forehead at the sight of the delinquent’s casual attire, the annoying noise of flip-flops squeaking against the slippery clean floor. Conceding to her responsibility, which was more of an excuse to express her pent-up frustration, she approaches the group of loud students minding their own business.

“You.”

They stopped, each looking at themselves and the person beside them in confusion. Mina takes in a slow breath to calm herself before she raised a finger to the person in the middle.

“Me?” The blonde innocently points to herself.

“Wah, Momo-sunbae is really popular!”

“Yeah, even the scary VP knows her.”

“I’m lucky I’m in the same faculty with you, Momo-sunbae!”

Mina clenches her jaw in annoyance. These kids surely do not know what manner is, she thought. Clearing her throat loudly, she managed to catch their attention once again.

“What are you wearing?”

The crowd suddenly disperse, probably sensing the trouble they will get from the vice president's wrath. However, it seems to have a different reaction for the offender who happily flaunts her slipper while wiggling her tiny toes.

“Oh, you like it?” She asked excitedly. “I can buy a pair for you. They have penguin ones too. Cute, right?”

Mina frowns from the forbidden word, not liking the implication she shares with a penguin.

“You’re not allowed to wear these to college.” Mina firmly reprimands, before she made another quick scan of the girl’s appearance. “Where’s your student card?”

Momo thinks for a moment, before snapping her finger. She fumbles in between her jeans pocket and jacket, before taking out a card with a triumphant grin.

“I have it!” She exclaimed happily, earning a sigh from the vice president. “You were supposed to wear it, not keep it hidden in your pockets.”

Momo rubs her nape sheepishly. “I tend to lose things easily so I thought I’d keep it safer like this.”

She doesn’t know what possessed her, but Mina starts spewing the college’s rules and regulations to the unbothered girl who, out of nowhere, pulls out a box of pocky from thin air. She listens attentively, sometimes nodding to Mina’s words as she put a stick into her mouth. In between the free lecture, she offers one to Mina which the latter absentmindedly took, saying a short thanks before continuing her sermon. It was after a few seconds when Mina realized what just happened.

“Did you - What just - Ugh, how?”

“No one can resist food,” She shrugs. “And that includes you, _Myoui-san_.”

Mina's eyes widen when her name comes out of the blonde's mouth, surprised from the honorific at the end which only people from her country would know. She opens her mouth to ask but instead is caught speechless when the blonde suddenly slams her hand on the wall, successfully trapping her in a _kabedon_. She gulps from the close proximity. The girl’s nose is literally only an inch away from her; Mina can feel the former’s breath tingling her heated face.

“Y-You! You stalked me, didn’t you?” She fumes, clearly irritated by the sudden invasion of her space and privacy. Her hands raised to push the pervert away but the latter suddenly shoves a stick into her mouth.

“It's cute that you think I'd stalk you, which I didn't." She snorts, before tapping the wall with her hand. "Your face is all over the place, penguin.”

Momo flashes that silly smirk of hers before taking a large bite of the stick in Mina's mouth, startling the already flustered penguin. She quickly shoves the blonde away, the latter happily laughs as she walks away, not forgetting to wave to the agitated girl about to explode. Mina twists her body, a few posters of her candidacy for the student council are still attached on the wall. Her face mostly occupied the whole A4 paper with her name written in big, bold letters along with a small flag of Japan at the corner.

Mina makes a mental note to take down all the posters and burn them to pieces.

*

“Why do I have to do this?” The girl with brown shoulder-length hair asked begrudgingly as she drops her bag in an ungraceful manner.

“Because you were the one who roped me into this project in the first place.” Mina takes a seat on her usual chair, gesturing her friend to do the same. “Don’t feign ignorance, Jihyo.”

“Where is your team, anyway?”

“I’ve assigned them to other tasks.”

“Fine. Just because I’m such a sweetheart.” Jihyo exaggerates with her sweet voice as she plops down on a seat opposite of the vice president. Mina wanted to say she is such an ass, but decide not to. Jihyo agreed to help her was enough, albeit reluctantly.

It was Jihyo’s initial idea to make something different for their last year of college, something to be remembered and be proud of. One of it is the charity night gala she’s been anticipating the most, instead of the usual ball night to celebrate the seniors’ farewell. Jihyo likes to contribute to the community, one of the feats Mina is fond of, rather than wasting time and money for useless purpose. Their discussion drags for over an hour when Jihyo's stomach starts grumbling. Mina glances at the clock; it is already past her friend’s usual dinner time. She waves off the latter’s invitation to go scout for leftover food still available at the cafeteria, not feeling hungry yet.

Her fingers begin thrumming on the table as she skims through the portfolio of past years project, only to realize the absence of the beat coming from the dance club room that had accompanied them earlier. The silence feels a bit daunting for Mina, prompting her to stretch her hands and stroll around the room to refresh her tired body and weary brain while waiting for her friend. A few minutes later, Jihyo appeared behind the door with a frown and a plastic bag on each hand.

“Yah, Mina! Why didn’t you tell me you ordered delivery?” The girl grumbled while closing the door with her foot. “I would have chipped in instead of buying the cafe’s stale bread.”

“I didn’t, though?” Mina raised a brow, confused.

Jihyo drops both bags on the table, before pointing to a transparent one. “Explain this.”

She gives Jihyo a curious look before checking the content; two rolls of aluminum foil with a can of latte. She found a piece of paper with her name taped on the bag, void of the sender’s name or the shop.

“I think they misplaced the order.”

Jihyo scoffs. “As if there is another _Myoui_ in this college.”

Mina contemplates to open the foil, still watching in wary when Jihyo snatches one of it and unwraps it, revealing a roll of freshly made _kimbap_.

“Wah, this smells good!” Jihyo exclaims, visibly drooling as the bread she bought was toss aside. “I think it’s from Johnny.”

“Who?”

Jihyo snorts with a teasing smile. “Your partner, obviously.”

Mina blinks blankly, prompting Jihyo to roll her eyes. “Yah! Johnny? The “Mr president with charms”?”

“Oh, him.” Mina blinks again, before her face contorts in distaste. “Ew. Why him?”

“I heard he has a crush on you.”

Her expression immediately morph to a mortified one, obviously appalled with the information. She stares at the steaming _kimbap_ again, wondering whether it is true that Johnny was the one who gave her this. But that man wasn’t just stupid and demanding, he’s stingy too. There’s absolutely no way he would go to this extent for Mina, let alone having a crush on her. It’s impossible no matter how much she tries to make it makes sense. She can see how much he loathes her with all the work he pushed for her to take care of, even to spare her a grateful smile seems like a sin for that guy.

She dismissed the thought, pushing the food to her drooling friend. “You can have it.”

“Eh? You sure?”

Mina nods, cautiously watching her friend consumes a piece of the rolled rice. The reaction Jihyo showed was heavenly, not showing any signs of discomfort which eliminates Mina’s suspicion of the food being poisoned or the likes, in case someone wants to prank her.

“Is it good?” She watches intently as Jihyo easily finishes the roll within a few minutes.

“So good!” Jihyo made a chef’s kiss gesture, before reaching for the other one. “You’re gonna eat that?”

Mina quickly slaps the hand away and shield the _kimbap_ with her arms. Jihyo acts like she was hurt before averting her attention to the packet of bread she bought. Mina’s stomach begins to rumble as the smell of the simple meal wafts into her nose. She takes a small bite, her face immediately lit up from the comforting and delicious taste. It didn’t take long for the roll of _kimbap_ to disappear as she rubs her stomach contentedly. She’s still doubtful of the intent of the anonymous sender, but she’s pleased to get back home with a happy stomach that night.

*

It suddenly became a routine for Mina to stay after class, either she’s doing the student council work or just finishing up her assignments. She preferred the quietness of the room, not that the presence of her roommate affected her much. Sana was rarely in her room these days and they mostly end up arriving at their shared room at the same time each night. The girl had mentioned once that she’s on a mission to woo a sacred first love, whatever that is.

Mina had been experiencing another unexplained 7 wonders in her life; the mysterious food delivery. As if someone is watching her, or rather stalking her diligently, she keeps receiving food every night she stay back at college. She will always find a plastic bag hung on the doorknob every time she’s about to leave, filled with different meals each night. The gesture is kind, a bit charming, but it’s getting too creepy as of late. She wonders if she's such a scary person, that the sender resorted to such feat because she's so hard to approach. Well, that person will be damned if she finds out they are stalking her like a creep.

“Mina?”

“Huh?”

She snaps from her reverie, revealing a pair of eyes waiting expectantly. The president clears his throat before he repeats the question.

“Anything else you want to add?”

Mina shakes her head with a small smile. “No, that is all.”

With Mina's approval, he ends the monthly meeting as everyone scurries out of the room, sleep the only thing occupying their heads. The small needle of the clock is pointing to the double numbers as Mina let out a deep sigh.

“Rough day?”

Her head whips to the other person left in the room, unaware of his presence.

She shrugs while rubbing her stiff shoulders, “Kind of.”

“You should take it easy. I heard that you’ve been using this room a lot after class. It’s not healthy for a girl like you to push yourself so hard, you know?”

Mina lets out a gentle scoff. She wouldn’t have had to go through those nights if someone didn’t dump all of his work on her. But Mina being the polite girl she is, only presents him a grateful smile before occupying herself with tidying up the papers in front of her.

“Good work, Mina.” He bids with a wave before leaving the room. Mina keeps her stare on the door, an eyebrow raised from the short conversation. What the heck was that? It was the first time Johnny had shown concern to her, let alone be on a first name basis.

Not putting too much thought into it, Mina made a beeline to the door and locks it. Her gaze pauses on the metal knob. It's weird to see the doorknob void of the transparent plastic bag. She had expected for her dinner to be there since she skipped lunch, only having a bar of chocolate to withstand the rush of her busy day. Perhaps the stalker is preoccupied with college work too. Guess she had to stop by the stall near her dorm to fill her already weeping stomach. Opting to take the staircase, she walks to the end of the hallway, approaching the dance room still blasting off beats from inside.

It's already late and usually the floor would already be empty at this time of the night. Curious, her feet unconsciously lead her to the room, stopping in front of the door with a small window frame. She peeks through it, expecting a group of people dancing, only to find a lone single figure inside.

That one figure with that hellishly bright yellow hair that always irks her to no end.

Mina lets out a tired sigh. “Oh god, why her?”

Her first thought was to quickly leave at the sight of the blonde, but her feet decided to ignore her brain and glue themselves in place. Her eyes stray to the blonde, following her body moving along with the beat. Her jaw goes slackened, the swaying of hips and snapping of limbs with fluid-like and precise movement caught her at awe.

She gulps before turning around to calm herself. She shakes her head a few times to get the image out of her head, unaware of the door swinging open.

“Yo.”

“ACK!”

She jumps in place, startled from the sudden poke on the sensitive spot on her back. Mina turns around to scold the person, only for her body to freeze when her eyes meet crinkling pair of droopy eyes. Momo stifles her laughter, unaware of the frozen state of the penguin. “That’s for stalking me.”

Mina’s jaw dropped. “I did not!”

“You clearly did.” Momo winks with a teasing grin while wiping her neck with a towel. The vice president choked on her spit, silently trying to compose herself from the _distracting_ view.

They are standing quite close for comfort, a bag slung on her shoulder with trails of sweat glistening on her protruding collar bones and exposed arms. It’s not helping that the wet skin is only accentuating the toned muscles of the dancer, which was not noticeable before. Her eyes trail down the loose white tank top towards the crevice on her chest, before a cough snaps her attention back to the smirking face.

“Enjoying the view?”

Mina clears her throat as she ducks her head down, embarrassed that she was caught staring.

“You reek.” She pinched her nose, acting as if she’s swatting away the non-existence smell.

“Really? Why are you trapping me then?”

Mina rolled her eyes. “No one’s trapping you.”

“Um, physically you are...?”

“Huh?”

Momo gestured to the door which has Mina standing exactly in front of it. Having no comeback, she promptly steps aside, before marching down the hallway leaving the snickering girl behind.

“Hey, wait up!”

She groans in annoyance and ignore the blonde, catching the loud running steps getting closer behind her. The walk back to her dorm is silent but she can feel Momo’s presence following her trail. It’s comforting, at least, to know she’s not walking alone on the dark, lonely street.

Mina sighs in relief when she sees her dorm building at the corner of the block. She can already feel her eyes drooping but her hunger is greater, the growling in her stomach coming in frequent intervals. She can never sleep in this state. Headache will greet her first thing in the morning and that’s the one thing Mina wants to avoid. She made a detour to the kind ahjumma stall she always frequent with Sana back when they were still freshies.

She ducks under the canopy of the food stall, scanning the crowded place for a vacant table. The place is packed like sardines; filled with men and women in tousled working attire with some students she recognized from college, probably too lazy and too hungry to cook for a midnight snack. It’s a Friday night, after all. Having second thought, Mina glances to the convenience store across the road. Guess a cold _bento_ box would suffice for now. Mina is just too tired to wait for a table; she might passed out while waiting.

Before she could turn on her heel, a voice stops her. “Where are you going?”

Mina points across the road. “The store.”

“You’re not eating here?”

“It’s too crowded.” She shrugs. She was about to cross the road when her arm was pulled the other side. “Follow me.”

“W-Where are you taking me?”

“Eat.” She answered over her shoulder, a grin plastered on her face. Mina wants to refuse but the blonde is holding her arm securely and she doesn’t have the energy to argue. They reach a worn down _ramyun_ shop, just a short walk from the dorm's back entrance. Mina is already regretting the stranger’s choice of food by the sight of the place.

“We’re eating here?” Mina asked, doubting her poor choice. “Are you serious?”

“The current state of your stomach doesn’t leave for any other option.” Mina flatly stares at the grinning blonde who’s eagerly pulling her to the back of the building.

“Wait! Aren’t we going inside?”

“This one leads to the VIP entrance.”

Mina wears a look of disbelief that screams “ _for real?”_ , only to receive a chuckle.

The blonde leads her to the back alley which seem quite clean and safe compared to other streets Mina had gone to. There’s even a small makeshift dinner table with benches, a man donning an apron taking a sip from his cup before greeting the blonde with a small bob of his head.

The blonde barges through a door with Mina in tow, revealing a plump man holding a pan over a stove with flaming hot fire reaching the ceiling. Mina almost winced from the blaring heat, if not for the blonde’s quick reflex to shield them from the heat with her body.

“Oppa!” Momo greets, only to be met with wide shocking eyes ready to bang his ladle on the person responsible for his almost heart attack.

“Yah! What are you-” He cursed with a gasp as he saw the newcomer, before pointing his ladle towards the blonde girl. “How many times do I have to tell you that the backdoor is for workers only?”

“Stop being dramatic, oppa. I brought a customer.”

“Exactly!” He exclaimed with wide eyes. “No one brings a customer through the back door!”

“But I did.” She shrugs with a peace sign. “The tables are already full and we’re too hungry to wait for one.”

“So?”

“We’re gonna starve to death while queuing outside. You want to see us poor, hungry girls dying in your restaurant and make your rating tragically drop again, oppa?”

He was clearly out of words from her ugly pout, letting out a loud sigh with another curse and admits defeat. “Fine, have it your way. But don’t disturb any of the workers. It’s a full house tonight.”

She happily salutes before pushing Mina out of the door and back to the empty table outside. She gestures for the girl to take a sit as she put her belongings on the opposite bench.

“Is there anything you’re sensitive to?”

“What?”

“Like allergic to seafood, or nuts... those sort of things?”

Mina shakes her head. “I’m fine with anything.”

“Got it.” The blonde gives her a firm nod as she put her phone on loudspeaker, the sound of jazz music blasting from it. Mina watches in curiosity as the girl walk back to the door.

“Wait, where are you going?”

She stops by the door, only her head showing. “Getting our food.”

Mina doesn’t get to respond as the girl already disappeared inside. She lets out a sigh before glancing on her watch. It’s still a bit early and tomorrow’s a weekend, she can sleep out the whole day to compensate for the busy week she had.

She stretches her tired limbs, feeling her muscles popping in a pleasing way. The alley is empty and dark but the music coming from the speaker made the place bearable for her. It was calming in a way, Mina thought.

Just as she’s enjoying some quiet time to herself, the blonde appeared again, this time with trays of food. Someone else is following her with sets of drinks, clad in a white shirt and an apron on her waist. Her eyes widen at the familiar face.

“Ah, it’s you!” She smiled seeing a face she recognizes; Sana's friend who always drop by their room.

The tall girl mirrored her expression before giving a small bow after placing the drinks on the table, mumbling a small greeting to her senior. “You’re Sana-unnie’s roommate, right?”

“You know Sa-tang?” Momo butts in while arranging the plates, resulting in a more surprised Mina with the casual way the blonde is addressing her roommate.

“You know her?”

She tilts her head, her eyebrows raised. “We came together from Japan. She’s basically my bestfriend, was what she claims to everyone.” Momo made a disgusted face, only to receive a nudge from the taller. "We grew up together, she's a neighbor of mine back home."

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”

Momo chuckles lightly, “Not surprising, the giggling machine is quite forgetful at times.”

“That is you, unnie.” The tall girl laughs, receiving a pout from the blonde. Sensing eyes on her, the former gasped with a hand on her mouth.

“How rude of me, I haven’t introduced myself yet.” She gives another polite bow. “I’m Chou Tzuyu, a sophomore majoring in business. You can call me Tzuyu.”

Mina happily introduced herself, exchanging pleasantries with the junior before her eyes fall on the quiet girl watchinng their interactions while munching on her fries. Mina cocks her eyebrows in a questioning manner, the girl doing the same.

“Introduce yourself, stranger.”

“Thought you’d never ask.” She rubs her hands clean before happily grinning with a peace sign. “The name’s Hirai Momo, nice to meet ya!”

Ah, so this is the Hirai Momo. The dance club pride 'dancing Mo-chine', the Japanese cute _ikemen_ , the record-making troublemaker, the one and only Hirai Momo that Mina had been hearing since freshman year. She knows the girl is another fellow Japanese but she had never met her, that is until that fateful day which Mina never wants to reminisce again. Just the thought of it makes her want to strangle the blonde.

“Is the food bad?”

“Huh?”

Momo juts her chin to Mina’s plate. “You’re stabbing the _tteokbokki_.”

Indeed, she found holes on the single rice cake on her small plate. She sheepishly ducks her head, before shoving the piece in her mouth. She hums in delight from the warm and enticing taste, her hands automatically adding another piece into her mouth. The taste is strangely familiar, yet it was the first time she has a meal on this restaurant. She looks up, only to be met with two pairs of amused eyes, obviously fascinated with the way she gobbles the food.

“You’re not eating, Tzuyu?” She averts their attention to the sophomore, the latter shaking her head with a smile.

“I’m just taking a small break.” She raised the cup in her hand before motioning to Mina’s plate. “I’m glad the food is to your taste, Mina-unnie.”

She nods with her cheeks full. “Thank you for the food, Tzuyu. It’s really delicious!”

Tzuyu laughs as she pats Momo’s shoulder. “You should thank unnie.” The girl said before excusing herself and resuming her shift.

Mina turns to the girl silently enjoying her food, surprise shown from her wide eyes. “Wait, you made this?”

“Yeah, I work here too.”

Mina let the information sink in as she slowly nods. Her mind drifts back to the many times Momo was commenting about her choice of food. The corner of her lips unconsciously lifted at the thought that this girl was kind enough to care for her well being, even as strangers. The girls enjoy the meal in silence, accompanied by the music filling the silent alleyway.

*

It was supposed to be a one week holiday for the senior students after finishing their mock exams, some going for a short getaway in Jeju while others preferred to stay at their parents’ house because no one can refuse free lodgings and free food. Well, except for a group of students choosing to contribute their youth and past time with something useful to the community. Like how Mina and her team of volunteers right now, who are sacrificing their free time in the charity center of homeless elders. It was a last minute idea by one of the committees, having connection with a staff working in the center and also being a regular volunteer in the weekends. There’s not much to do other than cleaning the place, changing the sheets, tending to some of the plants in their almost abandoned garden and keeping the elders company. The place is short on workers anyway, hence their visit is greatly welcomed.

Everything is flowing smoothly in accordance with their planned schedule, except it isn’t as they had hoped for. Mina, assigned as the advisor for today, was approached by a junior in charge of food. Her expression drastically fell after the message was conveyed.

“I’m really sorry, Mina-sunbae. I tried reaching out to other contacts we have, but...” The boy dips his head in guilt.

Mina rubs her forehead, her head raking through the many solutions to this one unexpected problem. It's two hours till lunch, so to hear the news that their sponsor couldn’t provide food for them is a total letdown for the team. The elders are already looking forward to the home-cooked meal they were promised, and to disappoint them is not in Mina’s to-do list. She’s deep in thought when a hand touched her shoulder, causing the girl to jump in surprise from the contact.

“Whoa, easy there! It’s just me.” Sana raised both hands in surrender, startled with Mina’s jumpiness. Her face softens when she realizes her roommate is in her agitated state, an uncommon feat coming from the usually composed girl.

“What’s wrong?”

Mina bit her lower lip before letting out a sigh. “The sponsor for our lunch suddenly backed out due to emergency. We tried asking help from other restaurants or cafes nearby but they refuse since it’s such a short notice.”

Tzuyu, who had walked in on their conversation by chance, raises her hand to get the seniors attention. “I think I can help.”

“You do?” Sana asked, the tall girl giving her a firm nod before taking out her phone and walking a few steps away from the group.

Mina watches in anticipation at the sophomore talking on her phone with Sana rubbing her arm to provide comfort. She really appreciates the gesture, her best friend of three years knowing perfectly well how to calm her nerves. In fact, she is really grateful with Sana’s adamant decision to join the volunteer team when the girl can instead go for an outing with her classmate and friends, being the social butterfly she is. But she rejects all of their invitation and chose to help Mina instead, which made her deeply touched.

Well, of course she didn’t join it with Mina in mind. This is Sana we're talking about. The girl had accidentally seen the list of participants on her table, before screaming for a pen and quickly jotting down her name on the paper. Knowing something fishy is going on with her roommate’s social life, Mina skims through the list, a smirk slowly appeared at the familiar name. No wonder, the tall junior is joining too. Typical Sana.

“So? How was it?” Sana voiced out when Tzuyu move towards them with a smile. She raised a thumb, “Good news! We got someone who can help. It’s going to take a bit of time, but at least we got food to eat.”

Mina lets out a relieved breath, feeling a weight being lifted from her shoulder. “Thank you, Tzuyu. I hope we’re not troubling them.”

“You're not. Don't worry, unnie.”

Indeed, it was just the time for their supposed lunch when a van arrived on the front gate. Mina follows Tzuyu outside to greet their savior, even when the latter tried to convince her to stay inside. Mina is having none of it; she wants to properly thank Tzuyu’s friend in person for helping them despite the hassle. As they approach the van, a blonde head pokes out of the window.

“Hey, Chewy!”

“Momo...?” Mina whispered, which didn’t go unnoticed by the tall girl who flails her hand to the van’s direction. Tzuyu nods to the bemused senior, “I called Shindong-oppa if he can help us. He agreed since business is quite slow today and there aren’t that many customers due to the seniors mostly on holiday. He also has an extra hand in the kitchen who he can bully around.”

Mina’s face slightly fallen from the information, “Is that really okay?”

She shrugs, her chin pointing to the girl inside the van. “She was the one who gladly accepts the job. Well, that is after hearing your name being mentioned.”

“Eh? What do you mean by that?”

Momo’s ears perk up from the quiet voice of the vice president approaching the van together with her favorite maknae, waving excitedly to the penguin. “Oh, hey Mina! It’s really nice to see you, but can I park the van here?”

She absentmindedly nods, her mind slowly registering the fact that Tzuyu is a part-timer in a restaurant, along with a certain blonde who had prepared her dinner last week. She mentally facepalm for not putting two and two together when Tzuyu offered to help. The youngest had jog towards the trunk of the van, leaving Mina behind as she starts unloading the packed lunches. The leader was about to lend a hand when she was gently pushed aside by Momo.

“It’s fine, you can leave this to us.”

Mina stares at the towering lunch boxes, thinking it would be faster if there’s an addition of manpower. Besides, she doesn’t want to feel useless to the people who had unwillingly helped them in the first place. Ignoring Momo’s command, Mina positions herself on the small trolley used to transport the food inside.

“What are you doing?” The blonde asked as she was about to push the trolley, only to find the penguin already holding the handle.

“Helping.” Mina stated before walking away with the trolley. Momo raised her brows in disbelief, shaking her head with an amused smile. She picks up some of the packs and made long strides to catch up with the hard-headed girl, unaware of the younger girl silently watching them with a knowing look.

The food is distributed to everyone evenly, earning the team lots of grateful thank yous and hugs for the freshly cooked meal. Mina is thoroughly surprised with the content of the packed lunch when she helps feed an elderly. There are various side dishes prepared and the serving’s amount is quite generous too. Her mouth already waters from the heavenly smell, eager to have a taste of the blonde’s cooking later.

Sadly, the lunch pack is already finished by the time Mina returns to her team. A frown appears on her face at the empty table. With a dejected look, she reaches for the breakfast leftovers of plain bun and a juice box before settling down on an empty picnic table.

As she was tearing the plastic wrapper of the bun, a lunch pack magically appears in front of her. Her head snaps to the side, eyes meeting with a pair of sunshine with yellow hair.

“Lunch delivery for Miss Myoui!”

Momo gives her a grin before turning around to leave. Mina quickly calls her name, catching the blonde’s attention before motioning to the empty seat in front of her. Yeah, Momo really resembles the sun with the way she brightens up from Mina’s invitation.

“Thank you.” She raised the lunch pack, the corner of her lips slightly rising.

“You need to eat a proper meal with how hard you're working.” Momo comments as she takes a triangular foil out from her bag. She unwraps it, revealing a toasted cheese sandwich still warm, the edges covered with oozing melted cheese. Momo happily takes a bite, humming in happiness from the salty and creamy mixture of different cheese she used.

“You made that too?”

“Yeah, want some?”

Momo offered the other slice without a thought, the vice president gladly accept the tempting sandwich before taking a bite from the heavenly but simple meal. She didn’t realize she had finished the whole thing by the time she feels eyes watching her with a soft smile.

“Wait, that was your lunch, right?” Mina asked in guilt, earning a shake of head from the blonde.

“It’s alright. I’m already full by watching you eat.” Mina's eyes narrow from the subtle pick-up line. “What was that?”

The blonde raises her shoulders playfully, her cheeks full from munching the last bite of the sandwich. The sight made her feel guilty again for gobbling Momo’s remaining lunch. She opens the lunch pack; the food looks enticing but she wouldn’t be able to finish it on her own. Glancing up on the blonde, she pushes the pack towards the center of the table, offering a spoon for Momo while she opts for the chopstick.

“Umm, I don’t think I can finish it alone.”

Gosh, what a lame excuse, Mina thought as she mentally face-palm. She waits for the incoming tease from Momo who’s giving her a knowing smirk, only for the blonde to reach for the spoon and scooping a bit of rice and meat into her mouth without uttering a word.

“Mmm, this is so good!”

Mina scoffs, “Did you just indirectly praised yourself?”

“Jeez, try it. I’ll let you be the judge of my talented skill.”

She rolls her eyes from Momo’s deliberate smug while taking a piece of meat into her mouth. She already knows the girl had won her heart just by the mouth-watering sight of the food. But eating it is better, much more better with the expecting face of the blonde.

“It’s good.” She plainly said.

“Eh? Just good?”

“It’s edible enough.”

“What? Aw, come on... The food got to be better than ‘just good’ or ‘edible enough’. I cook them while wearing my heart on the sleeve, you know?”

Hearing the incessant whining and pout from Momo, laughter erupts from the usually stoic and composed leader. She was just teasing the girl, anticipating her usual witty comebacks but seeing the blonde acting childish like this is something new to her. It is somehow a bit refreshing to see rather than the cool and rebellious Hirai Momo the others always gush about.

Suddenly, Sana appeared while pulling a baffled Yoda to sit on their table, uninvited. Mina quirks a brow at her roommate while Momo look back and forth between the ~~intruders~~ newcomers in interest while chewing with a full cheek.

"Unnie, what are we doing here? I still need to pick up the trash-“

“Oh hush! You’ve been working your ass off since morning so take a break and eat your lunch now.”

Without a word, the tall girl gives a small nod while taking out a small paper bag. She feels Sana eyeing every single step of her movement with a scowl, only for the creases on her forehead to deepen at the sight of a sandwich instead of the lunch pack she handed earlier.

“Where’s your food?”

She carefully raise the bag. “Uh, this...?”

“No.” Her voice lowered a note. “I gave you a lunch pack before you ran off to help those two selfish juniors who _obviously_ do not care about disposing their waste properly.”

“It’s not wrong to help.” The girl answered with a small voice, only to get a kick on the shin from the mad senior in front of her. Sana ignores the yelp and continues to interrogate the poor girl.

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

Tzuyu tried to play dumb, but once she was met with Sana’s glare, she cowers back into her chair. The blonde who’s having so much pleasure from the scene while enjoying her food pause her hand midway when she feels fidgety eyes falling on her. She whips her head to the younger, meeting quivering eyes as the latter mouthed ‘help’, her eyes motioning to the fuming person sitting in front of them. Sana carefully observes them, her obvious-but-blatantly-ignored crush silently communicating with her sly childhood friend.

“Wait a minute...” She narrows her eyes at the guilty-looking Momo and the food she’s eating, remembering the last pack she handed to Sana to keep it for Tzuyu who’s running an errand.

“You.” She points her finger dead straight to the racoon. “Run.”

Momo audibly gulps, before jumping on her feet and scurries away, leaving trails of leaves and dust behind. Meanwhile, Sana calmly stand up and cracks her neck and fingers, her eyes glinting with a killer instinct.

“Tzuyu, be a good girl and sit here while I finish that Moguri.” She marches forward, only to backtracks and point to the younger with a commanding air. “Eat your food.”

She follows Sana’s figure calmly disappearing to where Momo went off before heaving a deep sigh of relief. She whips her head to the sound of soft giggles, forgetting the presence of her Mina-unnie who’s probably watching everything like a good spectator.

“Sorry for interrupting your meal, unnie.” She sheepishly apologized, the senior responded with a shake of her head. “No, I’m the one who should be sorry.” Mina made a small push of the lunch pack. “This is actually yours, right?”

“Technically, yes.” She admits, “But I made a barter with Momo-unnie since she insist on it. My lunch pack for her croissant sandwich.” Tzuyu happily takes out the content of the paper bag. “Unnie’s sandwich is by far the best I’ve ever had!”

Mina has to agree with the younger, despite the scarce amount of times she had taste the blonde’s cooking. She can bravely deduce that Momo’s cooking is remarkable. It might be one of her specialties, other than dancing and being a total fool of herself.

“Want to share with me?” Mina offers the remaining food, but the girl gladly refuses while taking a graceful bite of the crumbly pastry filled with scrambled egg, avocado and a generous serving of melted cheese.

“I prefer bread more than rice, unnie. Thank you, anyway.” Tzuyu politely declines, only to catch the sight of Mina visibly gulping while eyeing her croissant. Her lips quirk upwards as she presents the sandwich to Mina.

“You can have a bite, unnie.” Mina gives her an unsure look, but Tzuyu is still holding the scrumptious looking croissant right in front of her eyes. Well, don’t mind her as she adds another menu to her recent favorite compilation of Momo’s cooking.

*

It is the last day for their short one week break and Mina is already doing the student council’s work as she skims through all the club reports given before the break, making small notes of the corrections need to be done before sending them back to the president of each club, and making sure to read some of the complaints and suggestions being deliberately ignored in their dusty complaint box. Of course, she didn't want to be in the high committee in the first place, but Mina’s not one to run from responsibility or leave it for someone else to take over. She gains satisfaction from doing a job well done at the end of the day, despite sacrificing her free time and being tired from overwork. She doesn’t need someone praising or acknowledging her, she only needs herself to feel deeply contented with her own hard work and to achieve that, is to give her best in everything.

But maybe she’s not the best person in regards to taking care of herself.

Again, she had lost count of how many times she had missed lunch. Her stomach isn’t even making a sound, probably sulking by now since she never paid attention to its crying sound. She only noticed the time from the loud banging of door on the hallway as her head involuntarily shot up to see the clock.

She wonders if some students are already back with their own activity but as far as she knows, the only room present in this floor is one for the student council, a large storage room, an abandoned AV room with an attached auditorium, and the dance club. It’s already past 8 in the evening, it’s impossible for a student to wander around the college this early after their last day of break. They are not as crazy as the diligent and hardworking Mina.

Then, she heard the sound of door being bang again.

She tried her best to push away from her mind of all the ghost stories circulating around this certain floor. There was once a rumor running rampage of why the large and well-equipped AV room is abruptly put out of order, something about a series of students passing out when they sneak inside for their illegal movie screening activity. Her body shudders when she remembers the famous horror urban legends back in her hometown in Japan relating to schools and college.

_Okay, good thoughts only Mina. Good thoughts, only..._

Oh, yeah. Maybe it's her stalker. It’s almost that time too when she would miraculously be presented with a plastic bag filled with an assortment of food. She wonders how they have the time to stalk her with their heavy schedule, let alone having the strength to follow Mina around when all she does is coop inside the student council room for hours. She should be creeped out, but Mina is being grateful instead. Of course, if not for the food, she would have been dead by now, starving all alone in this room without no one realizing as her corpse slowly decays with no proper burial being done because they can't identify her body...-

Okay, that is an exaggeration. But Mina really wants to meet this person who had probably spent a month worth of dinner money based on the times she always stay back in this room. It’s not fair that the person knows her while she still has no clue who the deliverer is. She wants to at least listen to the reason of giving her free food for the past two months.

Yeah... maybe the banging outside is the secret food delivery. It would have been perfect for it to appear right now since she’s starting to feel dizzy from the lack of nutrients in her blood. Not to mention, the food is really delicious and, you can say she’s being sentimental, but Mina can feel the warmth and love being poured into making her meal. The taste is somewhat familiar to her, but she shrugs it off, thinking it must have been one of the stalls she had went to before. Oh, how she wish she knows which shop it is, so she could order directly instead of troubling her stalker.

She mused to herself before shaking her head with a snort, thinking it’s ridiculous to expect it at this time-

**_*rustle rustle*_ **

Her eyes widen when she heard faint rustling by the door.

They said curiosity killed the cat, but what they didn’t know was that there’s a second phrase to it; satisfaction brought it back. She might regret her decision later, but it’s worth all the doubts been running in her mind since that day she received the _kimbap_. Yes, she still remembers the taste as if it was just yesterday she had eaten one.

With a determined heart, Mina quickly strides to the door. She wasn’t able to think of anything, the only thing she wants is to open the door and meet this secret person. And that is exactly what she did.

Only that she wasn’t expecting what she is about to see.

A blonde head is currently crouching in front of the door, in the middle of hanging the plastic bag on the knob of the door being pulled open.

“You...?”

The yellow raccoon panics as she snaps her head up, eyes widening from seeing the vice president standing behind the door. She quickly hides the plastic bag on her back with a nervous tittering.

“Ah! M-Mina! W-What are you doing here? I mean, I-I didn’t know you are here, hehe...”

“Oh, really?”

Mina raises her eyebrow with hands crossing on her chest at the obvious lie of the blonde. She tries her best to show how angry she is when she is actually attempting to control her heart from pounding so hard, afraid the blonde would hear the loud incessant beating just by her presence alone. Momo thought a pissed off Mina is hot, but it isn’t so when she’s the one in the spotlight to be faced with her wrath.

“Care to explain?”

Momo sheepishly rubs her nape before raising her shoulders with an innocent grin etched on her face.

“I guess I’m busted?”


	2. When I'm with you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this while listening to [Lauv - Paris in The Rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOCkne-Bku4)  
> Give it a listen! ^^

Momo likes to question about every little wonders in the world, except for love. To a little Momo, love is nothing more than being with her family. As she went to school, the teacher taught her that to love your friends is to care and be kind to them. Come middle school, her classmates had been talking about liking someone, and Momo thought liking is the same as loving so she never bothers to be interested in this kind of talk because she already knows what love is. It wasn’t until high school that she began to know love and like are two different things.

It started when she was confessed by one of her close sunbae, the varsity basketball player of the school who she looks up to as nothing more than a brother she never had. They were close, too close that rumors began to spread about them being secret lovers. Momo brushed them off as nothing more of gossip by those jealous big mouth seniors, but it was the opposite for that guy. He mistook their closeness as Momo reciprocating his feelings. The girl was confused; she never realized his kindness and thoughtful gesture had a different meaning to it. Maybe, that was the first time Momo had hurt a person’s feelings, and it made her feel really bad.

She tried to understand about love, of a different kind, in a different way. She decided to embark on a journey of self-reflection and understand what love really is. Unfortunately, the number one reference she chose would be the love novels belonging to a certain shiba-inu who really likes indulging herself in this sappy cringe-filling little world of hers as a favorite pastime. It was by the far, the most regrettable decision she ever made.

_”How can you read this stuff? It’s–“ She grimaced, “Nauseating.”_

_“Momo, it’s a part of growing up.”_

What Sana said made no sense, because Momo thinks she’s grown fairly well even without reading those books. The next thing she did, was watching Sana having dates and flings which never lasted for more than a month. And then she realized, she’s a dumb girl for not learning from history of her most regrettable decision. Her childhood friend is a bad example with the way she’s leading her college life. After that, Momo gave up. She’d rather enjoy her college days freely in her own way than worry for some unknown feelings that even the great heart-crusher Minatozaki couldn’t explain.

However, everything began to make sense when she was in her sophomore year. It was the last day of semester, also the last day of being a second year student for the sophomores, meaning it’s time for bonfire night. Despite being a laidback person who has a fair share of popularity that is supposedly to be on par with Sana, Momo was never fond of being in the center of attention and being in a crowd. But she was invited anyway, or more like forced by the squirrel and her persistent whining. Being a science student majoring in nutrition, she was assigned to handle the barbecue stand and cook all the food for them. She never understood why, but she’s glad to be busy with something instead of someone. Or so she thought…

_It was a rowdy night, but Momo enjoyed the atmosphere nonetheless. Of people laughing and singing without a care, shouting out their frustration for their already predicted failed papers, rolling on the ground from a small childish feud, or just dancing and vibing to the worse choice of songs by their assigned DJ of a nerdy boy. Of course, the thing she enjoyed the most was having a bite in between of roasting all the food, for quality control purpose. Amidst the chaos, her eyes fell on a couple standing quite far from the crowd. These girls are familiar, she only recognized the one majoring in performing arts though. She met her during their freshmen play on the backstage, the one with loud vocal but resembles an angel’s voice when she sings. They were minding their own business, probably drunk by now when one of them starts jumping and running around her loud friend. The little skips she made with those flapping hands, it reminds Momo of something._

_“Penguin…”_

_A small giggle escaped her lips, eyes still following the girl bouncing around the place. Then, her breath hitched. The skipping suddenly turned into a graceful twist, with those flailing hands flowing elegantly in the air. It was as if Momo was sucked into another world, where only both of them exist despite the distant. She feels like grabbing that dainty lonely hand and blend in with her own smooth dancing moves, the combination would have been perfect for a new dance routine. Her feet almost moved on its own, only to feel a burning sensation on her hand._

_“Ow!”_

_She yelped, her hand had unconsciously grabbed a piece of chicken skewer being barbecued. She had probably imagined the chicken as the girl’s hand. Momo took a small cube of ice and hold it between her burnt fingers, hiss escaped her lips from the cold and stinging sensation. She looked up, her eyes automatically searching for the girl, only for her to stand right in front of Momo._

_“Hey, we’re hungry. Is it done yet?”_

_Another head popped out from the girl’s left shoulder, her chin landing on the smooth skin. Momo can feel her fingers twitching to be in contact with the skin, to be the one touching it instead of the chin of the round-eyed class representative. She feels something weird, she didn’t know what. But it’s not good, oh definitely not a good one._

_“Any suggestion of food for us, chef?”_

_Momo shook her mind out of the gutter and cleared her throat. She mindlessly handed them a plate each, before pointing on the table full of all kinds of meat, salads, snacks and condiments to go with._

_“Help yourself.”_

_“Thank you.” The girl beamed, and Momo was once again stunned by her simple beauty. Her eyes wouldn’t, couldn’t stop following her actions, every single one of it. It was cute and somewhat endearing, to her at least. Her gaze fell on her plate, and she frowns. She takes a little bit of everything, but it’s not enough to fill her plate, let alone her stomach. Momo was about to snatch the tongs and fill her plate to the brim but was disturbed by the smell of burnt meat. She quickly tends to the chicken skewers with a disappointed frown. The girls thanked her before walking away; one in particular has been pulling her attention to her as she waddled away with her feet pointing outwards._

_“What a cute penguin.”_

_Momo didn’t understand it then, but now she kind of gets it._

Except, she doesn’t really get it much to the point it frightens her. One can say she’s a girl with bad fate, because she had never met with the girl again at the start of junior year. It wasn’t until the middle of the year when they paraded the candidates face for the student council committees, covering the boards all over college. Then she saw it, that beautiful face she imprinted in her head appeared again in the form of passport photo in the size of an A4 paper. Such a detailed description, but not yet as detailed as when she describe the girl’s memorable feature. Even a 12 page of thesis couldn’t beat Momo’s essay on the girl’s face alone. Yeah, don’t let her start with her assignment which only consists of one page at most; she’s that bad at writing.

Maybe the force above heard the small wish in her heart and decided to turn her fate around on the day she got back a bit late from her dance workout. She’s a fan of convenience store, except the one near her dorm. Their selections of food are awful and scarce, Momo would rather ransack her roommate’s candy stash than drop by the store. However, that night she seems to crave for some gummies and she's too tired to make a long turn to the store a few blocks away. With a deep sigh, she stepped inside and went straight to the candy section. Her head unconsciously shot up when the entrance door slid open, not paying enough attention to the person walking in. Only that she felt something familiar with the newcomer. Without thinking, her feet had brought her to the bread section. That’s when she recognized _her._

She didn’t know what possessed her, but she started commenting on her choice of food. Out of impulse, she began raiding the store for the most satiating ones to sleep the night without upsetting the stomach. It felt satisfying to leave the girl with those food albeit a bit rude but it’s fine, she looks forward to see her again. Since then, whenever they met, Momo would act out on impulse. It’s as if a switch suddenly sparked at the sight of the penguin, short-circuiting the nerves on her brain to feed the girl with all things delicious.

And that was what happened last night when Mina found out about her secret delivery. Because out of whim, again, she did something outrageous.

She ran.

Her mind blanked out when Mina faced her with that interrogative stance and amused expression. So without thinking, she ran all the way back to her dorm. It wasn’t until she reached the door of her room that she realized what she just did.

For the first time, her sleep wasn’t that refreshing. Like a zombie, Momo trudges to her class, only to be met with a shrieking sound of that annoying squirrel.

“Momo!” Sana squealed into her ear, earning a harsh push from the blonde. “Yah! What’s that for?”

“You’re too loud, lower it down please.” Momo grumbles before making her way to an empty seat at the back, the shiba trailing after her with a knowing hum.

“Ohh, someone’s in a bad mood.” Sana sings out with her annoying voice. “Was it because of last night?”

Momo raises an eyebrow, “What about last night?”

“About you getting busted.” Sana emphasized the last word while wiggling her eyebrows. “Why did you run away anyway? Mina was really worried, just so you know.”

“She did?”

“Yeah, she couldn’t sleep a wink, thanks to you.” Sana reprimands, only to wear a smirk. “I guess you guys should thank each other, though.”

Momo ignores her bestfriend who’s teasing her panda eyes, indicating she’s not getting enough sleep as well as Mina. She chases her annoying friend away, just in time for the lecturer to arrive and start their English class for the day. Except, she can’t focus at all on the foreign sentences, causing her mind to drift on the new recipe she’s been trying to come up for her cooking assignment. She starts listing out the ingredients, adding doodles of the items at the side when she’s stuck. She turns to Sana sitting at the front, diligently taking notes as seen from everyone’s eyes, when in fact she’s engrossed with her phone hidden on her lap.

She silently snickered to herself as a pout forms on her friend’s face. Tzuyu must have ignored her advances, or just plain replied with only one word and a period. Remembering the younger, the gears begin working in her head. She taps her pen on the notebook, imagining the ingredients and step-by-step instruction on the white page before her hand starts moving on its own. By the time the lecture ends, the page is already filled with notes and drawings.

A satisfied grin appears on her face. Her new recipe is complete.

*

Momo spent the entire evening cooking her new creation, trying to blend the spices and ingredients together to create a perfectly balanced meal with a desirable taste. It was a lot of work, but she’s satisfied enough with the result after her fourth try. Packing the food carefully in a container, she makes a beeline to the next building with a particular room as her destination. Once she reaches the door, she stops.

She contemplates whether to leave the food on the doorknob like the usual routine, or just barge in and greet the people inside. She was intending to apologize and make up for running away yesterday. It’s more proper if she meets the vice president in person rather than be a coward.

Yeah, she should stop being a coward because she’s Hirai Momo. Exactly a coward in every aspect.

“Ugh, where did those acting on impulse behaviors gone to?” Momo groans to herself. Huffing out a breath of determination, she knocks on the door thrice before peeking her head inside.

“Uh, hello?”

A person on the huge table raises her head, and Momo’s smile couldn’t get any wider than it is. “Oh, penguin! Can I come in?”

Momo doesn’t know if her mind was playing trick, but she could see Mina’s lips quirking upwards before it reverts back to the normal frown of that serious face. The girl nods, eyes not leaving the blonde happily approaching her table. The latter scans the place, finding it empty except for the penguin’s presence.

“You’re alone?”

“For the meantime. Meeting starts in half an hour.”

“Oh, perfect timing!” Momo placed the container she’s hiding on her back on the table, startling the vice president. “For you.”

Mina raised a brow, a smirk ghosting her lips. “No more secret delivery?”

“Well…” She scratches her neck with eyes casting down on the floor. “I thought I should make it up to you for – you know…?” Mina only tilts her head, deliberately pushing the girl to admit her doings.

“For…?”

“Forrunningawaylastnight…” She mumbles, eyes still avoiding the sharp pair scrutinizing her. Mina clearly enjoys tormenting the blonde as she made a pondering face with a tilt of her head. “What was that?”

“Aish, fine! I’m sorry for running away last night now eat this before it gets cold.”

Momo ignores the mirth playing on Mina’s lips as she engrosses herself with the container, taking out a pair of plastic cutleries she stole from the cooking lab before opening the lid. Steam floats out of the box, revealing a simple but appetizing hamburger with mash potato and boiled vegetables on the side.

“It’s my new creation.” Mina gives her a skeptical look. “Yah, just take a bite and see.”

The vice president takes a slow bite of the meat, her eyes widening from the burst of spices of the juicy piece. “It’s good!”

“Did you find anything funny with the taste?”

Her smile turns into a frown from Momo’s question, “What? Did you put something weird in it?”

“No, no!” Momo quickly denies, “Well, it’s not something weird. But rather, something you wouldn’t expect from a hamburger.” She cuts a piece and shows it to Mina, the flesh color is a bit paler than normal red meat. “I didn’t use real meat. It’s canned mackerel.”

“Eh? You’re lying!”

“You can’t taste the mackerel and the fishy smell, right?” Mina nods, “I even added the mackerel juice in the sauce.” Momo grinned, satisfied with her effort to prepare the new recipe. Mina takes another bite, this time trying to carefully make out the distinct briny taste, but there was only a subtle one, which amounts to nothing as compared to the first bite. There’s not even an indication that canned mackerel was used even after her third bite.

“Pretty neat, huh?”

“But why mackerel? I mean, it’s not hamburger if it’s not meat.”

“I made this with Tzuyu in mind. That girl doesn’t eat meat, but she does consume seafood. I want people with similar food preferences like her to know the joy of eating hamburger at least once in their life.”

Mina is stunned with the explanation, even more with the solemn smile on Momo’s face. She can feel her sincerity to make everyone enjoys food like how eating should, without having restrictions and just have fun because it’s eating we’re talking about. Everyone’s happy with food, even Mina too, especially when she eats Momo’s cooking.

_Wait, that doesn’t sound right… does it?_

“Well, I have to go first. Got a shift in 30.” Momo states, receiving an understanding nod from the penguin as she stands up and put away the used utensils before closing the lid. But the dancer was quick to stop her, a hand holding the latter’s wrist.

“What are you doing?” Momo pushes the startled girl to return to her seat, “You don’t have to, I made this for you.”

“Oh.” Mina bit her lip, still unconvinced. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it’s not much and also a result of my trial and error.” She notices the frown, “But, hey! It tasted good, right?”

“You’re lucky this time, Hirai.” Mina deadpanned.

“You know I wouldn’t serve a failed recipe to you.” Momo pouts her lips to gain her pity, the latter rolling her eyes followed by a defeated sigh. “This can also act as your dinner! Just like those other nights. Neat, huh?” Momo said warily with an awkward grin, afraid if she might upset the vice president at the mention of her secret deliveries. She just hopes Mina wouldn’t dig deeper into the reason why she did it in the first place.

“So I’m the scapegoat of your experimental new recipe now, huh?”

Momo rubs her nape anxiously, “Well- I’m… It’s not- Uhh, I don’t...”

“It’s fine. I mean, no one can refuse free food.” Mina shrugs, a hand supporting her chin with a smile playing on her lips. “I’ll be waiting for more.”

*

As if there was a silent agreement between them, the food delivery resumes. Be it on college or her dorm room, either a full meal course or just some light but satiating snacks, Momo never fails to send her food every day. Sometimes it would be her newest creation, other days would be the normal menu on the restaurant or just Momo’s personal best recipe she usually cooks at home, only this time she made the portion enough for two. The blonde has earned the title “Mina’s personal delivery girl” by her bestfriend, to the extent that Sana has already memorized the timing for Momo’s delivery. Of course, it’s a plus for the squirrel as she can get a portion of hers too, that is if Momo is up to it because Sana is not her top priority.

“Hey! I’m your bestfriend!”

“Yeah, and I’m your enslaved cook.”

“Mwoh? What about Mina, then? Aren’t you a slave for her too?”

“No.” Momo averts her gaze to the floor, “She’s my personal food tester.”

“What? Yah! How come Mina is the-”

Momo quickly leaves the room, ignoring her friend’s rambunctious ranting from her half-baked answer. It’s true though, they have come to an agreement that day and Momo was more than glad to fulfill Mina’s request. She loves cooking, and to see people enjoying her food is the most heart-warming moment for her. But to see Mina happily eating with her hands flailing on her sides and eyes crinkling in bliss is something indescribable, because she really doesn’t know how to explain her feelings at that particular moment.

Like that one time when she made a visit to the vice president’s lair after finishing her evening shift at the restaurant. The girl is sleeping so peacefully, it feels like she’s watching a live-action Disney princess movie. Thank god the room was empty, or she would have been caught ~~gawking at Mina~~ snooping the room. She was always curious why the supposedly student council room is always vacant, but she stopped caring so much now because it gives her some alone time with the penguin and learned a thing or two about her.

For example, Mina is known as the badass chic vice president by the whole campus. But what they didn’t know was that behind her cold exterior is a soft, adorable and timid penguin who walks like one if people do pay enough attention to her gait.

Everyone is afraid of Mina and her strict leadership method, which Momo finds hot and kind of endearing if you look at it from a different angle. What they didn’t know is that this commando-like penguin has a profound kindness to every living thing in this world, no matter human, animal, or inanimate object. Yes, Momo once saw her talking to an eraser that had accidentally fell down from the table, only to receive a comforting pat from Mina who’s giving consoling words to it. Weird, but a cute kind of weird.

But the one thing Momo loves the most is when her blank expression turned into a whole new world filled with warmth, sunshine and all in between. Did she mention before that she’s bad with words? Yeah, Momo is currently at a loss of word from seeing the expecting but playful glint twinkling in the penguin’s eyes when she opens the door of the student council room.

“Just right on time.” Mina steps aside to give way for the blonde to enter. “I hate to admit it, but I think my stomach is already used to your arrival.”

“Oh really? So you’re getting soft because of my cooking, now?”

Mina pulls a face, “You wish.”

Despite their scornful squabbles, Mina never forgets to invite the annoying blonde to eat the food she brought together, in which the latter never refused despite already having her portion beforehand. She’s used to being alone and being in a noisy place with loud people just doesn’t sit well with Mina. But Momo’s presence is nothing insinuating; her company is borderline calming and compelling. There’s something special about the blonde that attracts Mina which she couldn’t put her mind to it. It’s mysterious and thrilling, and Mina is a sucker for these things.

“You’re eating that?”

Momo asked, her fork already reaching out to the last piece of tofu on Mina’s plate. With quick reflex, Mina stops the advancing fork with her chopstick, holding the utensil in between the sticks. The blonde looks up with a glint of determination, having no intention of backing down. The penguin smirks back, tightening her hold on the chopstick. Then, begins the battle of strength between the adamant vice president and the competent dancer.

“It’s mine.”

“You’re late, I got it first.”

“You brought the food for me.”

“You shared the food with me.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“It means I have ownership of your things.” Momo got closer, a smirk plastered on her face “Including this tofu.”

Mina blinks a few times, before releasing the square piece to her competitor. “You’re lucky you’re such a smart ass.” She pouts while eyeing the tofu being poked by Momo’s fork.

“And you’re lucky you’re such a cute penguin.” The blonde grins at the deep frown apparent on Mina’s face along with red hues on her puffy cheeks. Without warning, she shoves the last piece into the latter’s mouth, startling her in the process.

She giggled from Mina’s shocked expression, the latter ducking her gaze on the floor to hide her burning face. Momo keeps her stare on her, earning a pout from the latter still chewing on her food.

“What?”

“You,” She points with her chopsticks, an annoying smirk etched on her face. “Eat like a penguin.”

She received a glare, the said penguin huffing out air from her flaring nostrils. “Have you seen a penguin eat?”

“Yeah, I have.” Momo grins, her chin landing on her left palm. “You.”

Mina groans her dissatisfaction loudly, “Why do you always say I look like a penguin?”

“Why not?” She shrugs. “They’re really cute in my opinion.” Her grin widening at the flushed state of the vice president, “Just so you know, it’s my favourite animal.”

Mina covers her heated face with a cough, taking a few swigs of water while fanning her face. “It’s really hot in here.”

Momo merely laughs at the flustered penguin, deciding to stop her endless teasing and give Mina time to calm herself down. They continue eating in comfortable silence, once in a while sharing glances only to erupt into silent giggles. Suddenly, the door of the room opened. They both whip their heads on the newcomer, a frowning Johnny looking back and forth between the girls.

“Am I disturbing something?”

“No, we’ve just finished eating.”

“Oh. Well, don’t mind me. I’m just taking a form for my friend.”

Johnny goes to the adjacent cupboard for the papers while watching the girls packing up the food container from the corner of his eyes. He had stumbled upon them a few times before, that ace of the dance club always delivering food to Mina from the restaurant she works at. He never cared at first, thinking she was just doing her job. They were silent, but from the reflection of the glass on the cupboard, he can see the smiles playing on their lips while stealing glances on one another. An unpleasant sensation begins gnawing up in his chest.

Momo turns to the tall guy with slick gelled hair after sensing his eyes on her. Her eyebrows lift up from his hard gaze.

“An acquaintance?” He asked Mina with his finger rudely pointing at the dumbfounded blonde. Mina shakes her head no. “She’s my friend.”

“I see.” He glowers back at Momo, “But she’s not a committee, isn’t she?”

“No.” Mina scrunches her forehead, “Is there a problem?”

She received a sigh with a shake of his head, “No, there’s none. But this place is named the Student Council Room for a reason.”

“And that is?” Mina quirks a brow with her arms crossed.

“Being a room for committee members only.” He tilts his head towards Momo’s direction, “Not an outsider.”

That’s when Momo understands he’s dissing her for having the privilege to linger in the room as a nobody. Realizing it’s her cue to leave, Momo quickly packs her thing and grab the hand of the girl currently seething in anger from the president’s implication of the blonde.

“Hey, it’s not worth it.” She whispered while rubbing the girl’s arm to calm her down. It seems to work from the way her eyes soften as she turns to Momo. “I have to leave anyway, got class in a few minutes.”

Mina nods with a smile. It doesn’t reach her eyes, and Momo feels like it’s her to be blame.

“I’ll see you later? With Tzuyu?”

Momo reminded her of the promise she made with the younger girl she had grown fond of, to have a late dinner together at the restaurant after her shift ends tonight. The twinkle in her eyes returned, and Momo is glad to see the typical penguin smile adorning her face.

She gives Mina a pat on her shoulder before turning around to leave. She holds her chin high as she walks out of the door, ignoring the presence of Johnny sneering by the door at her departure. She had heard Mina badmouthing him a few times before, but Momo regards the innocent jibes as nothing more than the vice president overcoming her stress for her overwhelming workload. Now that she had experienced it first hand, Momo can agree that his attitude really sucks.

*

Mina stretches her arms outwards, a yawn escaping her mouth as she turns to the window. The sun hasn’t set yet, a perfect time for a walk back to her dorm. Just as she she’s tidying up the table, a knocking sound came from the door.

“Come in.”

The corner of her lips turned upwards at the thought of a certain blonde appearing behind the door, grinning widely with a plastic bag filled with food on her hand. However, her balloon of thoughts was popped up unceremoniously when the face of a young female yoda peeks inside.

“Mina-unnie? Can I come in?”

“Of course.” She mustered a smile, trying to hide her disappointment. “What are you doing here? I thought you don’t have class today.”

“Eh? How did you know?”

“Your Sana-unnie started whining the second she wakes up about the unfairness of your empty timetable for today.”

Tzuyu laughs sheepishly at the mention of the sunbae who is still persistently trying to court her. “It’s fine. She’s with Dahyun-unnie right now to keep her company.” She shrugs nonchalantly, before dropping a paper bag on the chair in front of her.

“What’s that?”

“Your dinner.” Tzuyu grins knowingly, “I just ended my shift. Momo-unnie asked me to give this to you since the place is kinda packed right now.”

“Oh.” Tzuyu didn’t miss the disappointment in Mina’s voice, a smirk ghosting her lips. “You’re frowning, unnie.”

Mina noticed the teasing tone, quickly raking her brain for a change of topic. “Of course I am. She just asked you to run an errand in her place when it’s obvious you’re tired from work.”

Tzuyu quickly shakes her head to deny, “No, no! It’s fine, unnie. In fact, it’s Momo-unnie who’s more tired than me so don’t blame her, please.”

Mina almost chortle at her innocent plea, “I was just kidding, Tzuyu.”

“But I’m not, though.” The tall girl loudly sighed, “I’m really worried about Momo-unnie. I don’t know how she does it, but her schedule is really packed that she’s always on the run here and there.”

The vice president listens attentively, not taking her eyes off the younger at the mention of her favourite unnie.

“One time, I saw her dozing off while walking back to the dorm in the middle of the night. It was fortunate that my shift ended late that day and came across Momo-unnie. Who knows what will happen if she fell asleep in the middle of the road.”

“Don’t you have a fixed shift at the restaurant?”

“We do, but Momo-unnie is a special case. She can freely come whenever she wants to.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Shindong-oppa owed her a lot. If it wasn’t because of Momo-unnie, he would have probably lost the restaurant by now.” Mina’s eyes widen from the information. Never had she expected Momo to do such feat as saving someone’s business to the extent of earning the IOU card. Guess the blonde is more than just meets the eye.

“Sorry unnie for ranting out to you about these things.”

Mina smiled at the frowning girl, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to Momo later and ask her about it, okay?” Tzuyu nods, her eyes inspecting the unusually clear table. “You’re going home, unnie?”

“Yeah, I’ve just finished my work. Thank you for the food, by the way.”

“My pleasure.” The girl grins happily, before helping Mina to carry some of her things. “Can I accompany you?”

“Of course! But make sure we won’t run into Sana on the way back. It’s hard to deal with her jealous ass.”

Tzuyu lets out a strained laugh, “I guess so. But she’s not that bad.”

“Only with you, Tzuyu.” Mina smirks teasingly, nudging the girl on her waist. “She only behaves when you’re around. Sometimes, I wonder who’s the older one between you two.”

“Stop it, unnie.” The girl whines, avoiding to meet Mina’s eyes who seems to notice her red cheeks. Mina giggles softly, slipping her hand in the crevice of Tzuyu’s arm while walking back to their dorm.

“I still don’t get you, Tzuyu.” She tilts her head to the older girl, an eyebrow raised in question. “Why are you still pushing Sana away? Weren’t you the one who confessed to her first?”

The tall girl keeps her gaze forward, slowly exhaling through her nose. It’s a hard question to answer, even to herself.

“I’m afraid, I guess.” She shrugs, “I’m just a foreign girl living fully on a scholarship fee and part time payment which doesn’t even amount to half of the college fee. I can barely feed myself here, let alone to take care of someone like Sana-unnie.”

“Yeah, that girl is high maintenance.” They shared a laugh, before the atmosphere becomes heavy again from their deep conversation. The younger sighs deeply, “I don’t deserve her, unnie. She’s better off with someone else… Someone that is not me.”

“You’re selfish, do you know that?” Mina slaps the girl’s arm lightly, earning a groan from the latter. “Can’t you see what she’s doing?”

“Uh, what?”

“She’s still courting you even after knowing your background, Tzuyu. She doesn’t care about status or wealth, or whatever you’re worried about. No, she cares about you and only you. That’s the only thing that really matters to her.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” Mina shakes her head in defeat, “Gosh, you’re both an airhead. No wonder you suit each other so much.”

“We do?” Tzuyu asked with a hint of smile. Mina put a hand on her waist before flicking her fingers on Tzuyu’s forehead, a yelp coming from the latter. “Just confess already.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yah, stop asking and just do it!” Tzuyu let out a loud giggle from Mina’s exasperated expression. “Fine, fine. I’ll do it.”

*

It is one of those normal days where Mina has a free time to herself because the lecturer cancelled his class due to an emergency, and lucky for Mina it is the only class she has that day. So here she is lazing around in her bed despite the sun already reaching the top of her head. She peeks from the comfort of her blanket covering her whole body, the opposite bed unoccupied. Then she remembered how noisy Sana was that morning, whining about her early class and presentation while Mina is dozing off on her bed not caring about her misfortune.

Yeah, she really doesn’t care because she has it worse.

Just as her eyes begin to shut for another snooze, her phone buzzes under the pillow. She slides a hand lazily for the gadget, her left eye squinting to adjust to the glaring screen. She struggles to see the name of the sender of that message, only for her eyes to snap open.

**_Chef Hirai_ **

**_Where are you?_ **

Mina quickly types a reply, her fingers gliding smoothly over the small screen keyboard.

**_Miss Penguin_ **

**_My dorm_ **

**_Chef Hirai_ **

**_Oh, no class today_**?

**_Miss Penguin_ **

**_Nope, cancelled so I’m sleeping the day off._ **

**_Chef Hirai_ **

**_The overachiever is being a lazybum? That’s a first kkk_ **

**_Miss Penguin_ **

**_Cut the crap, Hirai. I’m a human, after all._ **

**_Chef Hirai_ **

**_A human penguin, at most_ **

**_Btw, lunch together? Usual place_ **

**_Miss Penguin_ **

**_Give me an hour_ **

**_Chef Hirai_ **

**_Make it an hour and half_ **

**_You need a full-body scrub to wash away that laziness kkk_ **

Exactly an hour and half later, Mina arrives at the VIP table of the restaurant where they had promised to meet. She takes a seat comfortably despite receiving eyes from other workers taking a break. She’s already used to it, earning a tilt of head as a greeting from one of them who she recognizes as the superior and oldest worker that Momo introduced her to. He mouthed the younger girl’s name with a questioning gaze, Mina shaking her head politely as to not disturb the Yoda at work. He snorts before motioning one of the younger boys to call for Tzuyu despite Mina’s protest.

Tzuyu appeared not even a minute later, jogging her way to the table before plopping down on the opposite bench. She takes long gulps of the water she brought, followed by a loud sigh as she finishes the whole bottle.

“Ah, that’s refreshing!” She grins in relief before directing her gaze on her smiling unnie. “What are you doing here, Mina-unnie? It’s nice to see you, by the way.”

“Momo invites me for a lunch together.”

“Oh, she did?” Mina doesn’t miss the frown appearing on Tzuyu’s face, “What’s wrong?”

Tzuyu is about to answer when a loud cheery voice greets them from afar. Tzuyu twists her upper body around with a hand waving to the blonde while Mina only grins, a hand supporting her chin.

“Did you wait long? Sorry, got caught up with one of the juniors.”

“No, I just got here.” Mina answered while staring at the blonde taking a seat on her side. She can see dark circles forming under her eyes, the blonde probably working hard juggling her part time jobs and classes. “Just finished your class?”

“No, I didn’t go to class. I got dance practice since morning.”

Mina’s forehead scrunched, “So you ditched class for… dance?” Momo nods nonchalantly while taking out a box of pocky from her bag. “Yeah, is there a problem?”

“Of course it’s a problem. You’re putting your priority at a wrong place.” Mina reprimands, earning a raised eyebrows from the blonde.

“Tzuyu, I’m hungry. Can you bring some food for us?”

She notices the deeper frown forming on the younger’s face but said nothing about it. Momo nudges the younger who won’t budge from her seat, in which the latter responded with a pout but followed nonetheless as she trudges back to the back door.

“If only Sana sees her like this, she would have cooed and babies Tzuyu for the whole day.” Momo comments with an amused shake of her head, but stops when she feels lasers shooting out from Mina’s glare.

“You’re avoiding my question.”

“Oh, did you ask something?”

Mina scoffs, “What’s so important about this dance practice?”

“You’re my mom now? Even she doesn’t care about my well-being here.”

“Don’t change the topic, Hirai Momo.”

Momo sighs deeply, knowing well that when Mina uses her full name, it means she’s dead serious. “I’m helping the cheerleader team for a favor. They’re having an interstate competition in two weeks time so I have to choreograph a new routine for the team.”

Mina processed everything in her head, remembering the president of the cheerleader sending an application form for the competition a month ago. It wasn’t a short notice and they have plenty of time to practice the routine so it bothers Mina that they are asking Momo for help right about this time.

“You do know midterm exam will start next week, right?”

“I do and as you see, I’m doing my best to fill up all my free time for something good.” Mina raised her eyebrow in question, “You know the reputation our cheerleader team holds for the college. It will mean a lot if they do win the competition.”

“That doesn’t mean you can skip class.”

“And skip sleep, too.” Tzuyu intervenes with her hands full of two trays of food and drinks. “I know you’ve been camping in the dance room these past few days, unnie.”

Momo is about to whine for the glaring Yoda to stop, but Mina had already beaten her to it. “Wait, you skip sleep, too?!”

From the penguin’s outburst, Momo keeps mum and shrinks into her seat like a child at fault. She side glares at the tall girl who shrugs innocently while sitting on her side. Mina heaves a loud sigh, her arms crossing together in disappointment.

“I did sleep last night.” Momo defended herself.

“How many hours?”

Momo counts silently with her mouth, her eyes straying to the sky. “About 2 hours?” She mumbles, earning a gasp and a loud what from the other two.

“Momo-unnie! That’s not good for your health!”

“Tzuyu is right. You should take proper care of yourself, Momo.”

A disappointed frown appears on the blonde’s face, “Can we eat first and have this conversation later? I’m really hungry and I have to rush back to college immediately after this since the coach wants to see what I choreograph for her team and I’m already dead tired as you can see, so please?”

“Can you stop being selfish and listen to us, Momo?”

“No! I’m not being selfish, you are!” Momo snaps, the chopsticks she’s holding thrown on the table and broke into two, startling both Tzuyu and Mina who had never seen this side of her. “Have you ever thought why I’ve been troubling myself to cook and send those food for you? Because you’ve never taken care of yourself! It’s frustrating to see you all busy and preoccupied doing things that was supposed to be someone else’s job, only to skip your meal just because you’re trying to look good in other’s eyes.”

She huffs loudly, “Don’t make me start about the reason why you’re the vice president in the first place. It’s irritating to see you being a slave for other’s benefits.”

“No, you’re wrong.” Mina shakes her head, her fists clamp together to keep her anger at bay. “You’re wrong, Hirai. I did all of that on my own volition and you have no right to question my intention.”

“Oh, yeah? Then you have no right to get mad at what I do, too.” Momo scoffs, “Because you’re nothing better than me.”

Tzuyu watches the two in panic, not knowing what to do to stop them from spouting their unresolved vexations on one another. Just as she tries to pacify the blonde to calm down, Mina abruptly stands from the bench. She glares deeply at the surprised Momo, before leaving them without a word.

She feels deep anger resonating from inside her chest, but it isn’t directed to the blonde. It is mostly towards herself, because she knows what Momo said was true all along. She wants to blame the blonde for not understanding her despite the time they spent together and the opening up she struggled to do, but she was wrong. Momo understands her alright, inside and out, and that infuriates her more.

How easy it is for Momo to peel off one by one the protective layers she built over the years, how easy it is for Momo to slip herself into her life and make her long for the blonde’s presence even for a day, how easy it is for Momo to annoy her with those playful insults and make her show the gummy laughter she always conceal, how easy it is for Momo to gain a spot in her heart just by her delicious cooking… she hates them all.

Mina opens the door of her room in a rush, wanting nothing more than to bury her face into the fluffy pillow and sleep the night away. However, she was met with a worried Sana already waiting for her arrival. Tzuyu must have told her what happened, Mina thought.

“Mitang.” She stands from her bed, taking a step forward. “ _Are you okay_?” She asked in their native tongue, hoping it provides at least a little comfort to her dejected roommate.

To her dismay, Mina responds with a shake of her head before making a beeline to their joined bathroom and locks herself inside. Sana lets out a sigh while rubbing the bridge of her nose, sending a message to the younger girl about Mina’s current state.

That night, no word was spoken between the two. Mina appreciates Sana’s considerate thought of giving her the space she needed to clear her head. It’s not that they don’t care about each other, but they cared enough to appreciate the line between deeply affectionate or bordering intrusive.

Her ears are plugged in with earphones blasting soft music, her eyes are shut close trying to get herself lull to sleep. But to no avail, her brain is still wide awake. Maybe her choice of music is wrong. Just as she’s about to change the playlist, a sound of an incoming message chimes in.

**_Chef Hirai_ **

**_Are you asleep yet?_ **

Her thumb hovers over the notification, before she slides the message aside. She turns off the screen and pulls out her earphone, her phone buried under the pillow. A few minutes later, she feels the vibration shaking her pillow. Mina closes her eyes to ignore it, but a nagging feeling at the back of her head told her to grab it.

Biting her lip, Mina retrieves her phone.

**_Chef Hirai_ **

**_I know an apology wouldn’t suffice_ **

**_But I’m truly sorry I made you upset_ **

**_I can’t promise to not hurt you again_ **

**_But I can promise that I only want the best for you_ **

Mina managed to go to sleep that night, with trail of dried tears on her cheeks.

*

“Hey, Johnny! Don’t you dare run away! You promised to buy us dinner tonight!”

Mina ignores the commotion, the only thing in her mind are her fluffy pillow and comfy bed. It’s a Monday night and all she wanted was nothing more than a well-deserved rest. As soon as their meeting ends, the president was bombarded by the committees demanding for their supposedly dinner treat. As she occupies herself with shoving everything into her bag, a junior approaches her.

“Sunbae, you’re coming with us too, right?”

“I don’t think so. I’m really tired, sorry.”

The junior pouts, “But I’m the only girl in the group if you’re not joining us. They’re going to bully me.”

The others begin persuading the reluctant vice president, before she agreed with a sigh, making a condition that she will stay only for an hour then she’s off to the dorm. Everyone was noisy, but it’s bearable enough that Mina is not annoyed with their loud mouth.

“You still haven’t told us where we’re eating.”

“What? Afraid we’ll drain your wallet with our choice of place, Johnny?”

The mentioned guy rolled his eyes, “No, I’m worried you’re gonna bring us to a rundown restaurant. You know how my taste is.”

Mina gives her best to stop every strand of muscle on her face from wincing into a grimace, only to remember that she’s walking behind him.

“Relax, I can assure you that the place serves the best food I’ve ever tasted for my whole college life.”

“You’ve been here not more than a year, though.” The president gives him a suspicious look.

As they neared the place, Mina’s eyes widen. It’s the place she always frequent, but instead of eating under the moonlight with stars decorating the dark sky in the VIP section, she’s sitting on a round table under the artificial light of fluorescent bulbs and wall fans. It’s already packed with people and they are fortunate enough to get a table for eight. Mina looks around the place for a familiar face, not that she expects anyone.

Okay who is she kidding, right?”

She has never been inside for the times she visited the restaurant. Momo would insist for the VIP seat at the back door while dragging along the eager Tzuyu for a late dinner or just a light snack while enjoying small talks or daily rants. It’s just a simple thing, but it’s the thing that Mina looks forward to whenever they made the impromptu arrangement. She doesn’t know when it started, or how, but Mina can feel an attraction to the raccoon-like blonde. Well, except when the latter is in the mood to annoy her, Mina finds that Momo is not so bad after all.

A good kind of bad that piqued Mina’s interest.

If only things didn’t happen on that unfortunate day. It has been three days since, and it is also the duration that voids her of any contact with the dancer. Mina admits she is to be blamed for letting her emotion took over her rationale. She has been thinking a lot, and by a lot, means she’s been thinking of the blonde whenever her brain decides to space out from overwork. Momo wasn’t even doing anything wrong; she’s just being her. The selfless, kind, considerate, understanding and pig-headed girl she is. Yes, Mina didn’t freaking stutter on the last one because Momo is definitely stubborn that it irks the penguin that she can’t do anything to change it.

Exactly similar to a particular penguin, Mina concedes with a frown.

“May I have your order, please?”

Her head shots up from the voice, the owner still hasn’t realize her presence as she takes their orders, pen scribbling along the notepad hastily. The waiter who feels eyes on her made a small glance, only to do a double take at the expecting face. She beams back at her smiling unnie before tending back to the demanding requests and questions of others on Mina’s table. 

She buries her intention to ask of a certain blonde’s whereabouts at the sight of Tzuyu disappearing into the kitchen’s door, not sparing her another glance. Her surroundings are quite hectic anyway so it’s understandable. Her table is filled with all kinds of conversation, but Mina’s brain is not tuning in with their exciting talk of rumors and tittle-tattle, opting to nod along with a strained smile when heads turn to her. After waiting for almost half an hour, the food came. That’s when a thought flies through her head, the corner of her lips raised instantly. 

She reaches for a piece of kimbap, expecting the food to arouse the familiar sensation on her taste bud that has a memory of its own of a certain someone’s cooking she’s been missing. Putting the whole piece in her mouth, she gladly chews with her mouth full, only to frown at the taste. She slowly munches the remains in her mouth, her appetite dissipating along with the swallowed piece.

“Sunbae, you’re not eating? Try this, it’s really good!”

Her junior sets a few pieces of rice cakes on her plate, Mina whispering a thank you with a polite smile. She nibbles one, the taste doesn’t seem to satisfy her palate. It’s ironic that she almost grimaced at Johnny’s fussiness, when she’s the one having a finicky tongue.

Tzuyu arrives with another set of food and drinks, only to see Mina’s plate untouched and a slight frown apparent on her face. She neared Mina’s chair lastly and put the latter’s lemonade gently on the table.

“Not hungry?” She whispered, earning the senior’s attention who quickly jerks her head in denial. “No, just tired I guess.”

Tzuyu nods along, but she knows something’s up with her unnie. She motions with a tilt of her head, asking Mina to follow her. Confused but pleased for the interruption, she excused herself from the table. She trails along the taller girl towards a secluded and dim corner of the restaurant.

“You don’t look like you’re enjoying yourself, unnie.”

Mina let out a small giggle from Tzuyu’s blunt but accurate statement. She sighs when she’s met with the concerned pair of the younger girl, contemplating to ask the question that’s been bugging her once she saw the restaurant.

“Momo-unnie isn’t here?” She timidly asked, only to earn a smirk from Tzuyu. “Ah, no wonder.”

“W-What?”

“The food is not to your taste because it’s not Momo-unnie who made it.” She smugly answered, “Am I right?”

“T-That’s absurd! Why would that be the reason?” Tzuyu knows the answer to it, but decided to keep it to herself and enjoy teasing both of her unnies with her super-ultra keen observation of the hopeless pair.

“She has dance practice tonight.” She nods slowly, the word ‘dance practice’ left an odd feeling in her chest. “If it makes you feel better, I haven’t seen her since that day, too. She’s probably engrossed with catching up and preparing for exams. So don’t push yourself too hard, okay unnie?”

She gives a small smile and a bop of her head, not wanting to think too much about it. When she excused herself to go back to the table, Tzuyu told her to wait before disappearing into the kitchen. She glances towards her table, all of them animatedly talking with laughter and smiles on their faces that her addition would have make the table an awkward sight to see. Maybe she should leave anyway. This place doesn’t have the amiability it once emits the few times she visited.

“Here, unnie.”

Mina was startled by the appearance of a paper bag right in front of her eyes. She takes it, examining the content of a container and a small water bottle.

“Have a good dinner, Mina-unnie.” Tzuyu bids her with a pat on her shoulder as she backs away from the still girl.

The place is dim, but Tzuyu doesn’t failed to notice the red hues appearing on her unnie’s face, along with the smile widening as she reads the small note attached on the container. She shakes her head with a small chuckle at the obliviousness of her two unnies who are still unaware of how attached they are to each other by now. At the sight of Mina leaving her friends in a rush, it seems she has done her part well.

Her mission is accomplished.

*

In a few days, the midterm examination will start. It doesn’t help that the college had been invited to a charity event in the neighboring community centre in relation to youths and awareness for the future leadership. Such a vague title because Mina is definitely not one with this kind of awareness. So for her to suddenly being picked by the advisor of the student council to attend the event on behalf of the college was not what she had in mind.

_“But, sir!” Mina raised her hand in objection, “I think Johnny should be the one to attend it rather than me. Isn’t it more appropriate?”_

_“Because it’s inappropriate for him, that’s why I choose you, Mina.” The advisor reasoned, “You know how Johnny is. He doesn’t even know his class schedule for this semester.”_

_“Wait, he doesn’t?”_

_The advisor scratched his head, “That’s a story for another time.” Mina frowns, “The point is, you’re the only one suitable as our representative. Please, Mina? I’m begging you, just for this one.”_

_The vice president closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, her head nods in defeat. “Fine, but this is the first and last. You should utilize Johnny as the president no matter how…” Mina tries to think of a polite word to describe the useless guy. “Ignorant he is.”_

_“Great! You’re a lifesaver, Mina.” He beams with a clap of his hands. “The event is this Saturday-“_

_“Saturday? Exam starts on Monday, sir!”_

_“Yeah, I know. But you can manage fine, right? You’re one of our top students. There’s nothing to fret about.”_

_Damn right, I’m on a tight schedule here, Mina thought to herself._

_“Don’t worry, it’s just a half day event. You’ll have plenty of time for revision.”_

_Mina bobs her head without any word, too tired to argue because nothing can amend his decision once the advisor put his head on it. Just as she was about to leave the room, he calls her._

_“Before I forget, you have to give a short talk too.”_

_Her eyes widen, “What?”_

Here she is in the library since her last class ended in the morning, working her ass off revising for a short quiz, finishing her part for a group presentation, making after-class notes and writing a script for her speech. There are so many things to do this week, she can feel bouts of incoming headache pulsating in her skull. It doesn’t help that some students are making their group study louder than necessary. Packing up her notes, Mina stomps off towards the student council room in hope she can have a peace of mind and some silence to herself.

Scatters of papers fill the long table as Mina continues to finish her work, not realizing the sun had already set, replaced by the dark sky and a crescent moon shining through the window. Mina ignores the growling of her stomach for the past hours, not in the mood to satiate its needs because for her, time is precious right now.

If only she understands her health is more precious than time.

Mina starts feeling a stinging pain on her left side, along with the throbbing in her head. The pain intensified by the minute, causing her to hunch over the table with a hand holding her left waist. A loud hiss escaped her lips from the excruciating sensation, her knuckles turning white as she grips the pen in a tight fist.

Suddenly the door flings open.

“Special delivery for Miss Pengu– Eh? Mina!” Momo rushes to Mina’s side from seeing the state of the girl, the food on her hand left abandoned on a sofa by the door. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Mina shakes her head, “I don’t know. My stomach… it’s really painful.”

The blonde raises Mina’s head, noticing the paleness of her skin and droplets of cold sweat on her forehead. Even her skin is cold to touch.

“Did you eat anything bad?”

Mina squeezes her eyes shut to think back of the food she has eaten, before shaking her head. “I just had an apple for breakfast.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, why?” Mina asked, only to receive a disappointed sigh and a deep frown from the dancer. “You skipped meals, didn’t you?”

She doesn’t respond to the spot on allegation, but a twist in her stomach made her wince. Momo gently pulls the hurting girl to her feet before leading her to the door.

“W-Where are we going?” Mina asked in a quiet voice, her strength slowly diminishing with every step they take.

“To the hospital.”

Momo doesn’t turn her head, but Mina notices the hard stare and clenched jaw of the blonde as she keeps her gaze forward while helping her to walk down the hallway. As they step outside, a pink-colored scooter greets them. Momo grabs her helmet and put it gently on the penguin’s head, leaving her own head exposed before mounting and igniting the engine. Mina hesitates at the thought of riding the motorbike for the first time, but the pain is becoming unbearable by the minute, she quickly hops on the back seat.

“Hold on tight.” Momo instructs, feeling a hand wraps tightly around her waist.

The ride is a bit scary, with Momo trying to slither through the heavy traffic and running red lights on every intersection. Fortunately, they reach the hospital with all limbs still attached. Momo drags the sick girl to the emergency entrance and leave her to the care of the nurses and doctors in charge before making her way to the registration counter to fill in about the patient’s details.

“It’s an acute gastritis.” Momo lets out a relieved sigh from the familiar illness. “It’s nothing serious, probably because she’s been skipping meals for the past few days, added with stress. It’s a normal thing for students nowadays.” The doctor shakes his head disapprovingly. “Just make sure to give her some bland food first until she feels better. I’ll prescribe some medicine for the pain.”

“As for you,” He turns to Mina with a reprimand look, “Please, eat. Three times a day is sufficient enough, but make sure to fill your stomach with something filling. Okay? No matter how busy you are, you must remember to eat. You’re still too young to be falling sick.”

She nods in defeat, knowing well she’s at fault for ignoring the pleas of her body. They wait outside for the medicine, both sitting in silent. Mina steals a glance to the blonde beside her, her face tense with eyebrows knitting together. She has lost count of the days they were avoiding each other, despite the still on-going food delivery by the young tall girl on Momo’s stead, and now all she wants is to stare at the face she longs to see. But knowing it’s inappropriate and not the right time, she buries her desire and leans back on the chair.

“Sorry.”

Mina was startled by the abrupt apology, “Hm?”

Momo turns to the pale girl, guilt obvious on her face. “I got so distracted with dance training and my shifts at the restaurant were all over the place since we lost a few part timers due to exam week, I can’t send you food like always. That’s why you don’t eat, right?”

Mina snorts, “Now where did that last one come from?”

“Tzuyu told me.” Momo stated matter-of-factly, causing Mina to clamp her mouth shut in embarrassment.

“It’s not your fault. I should be the one taking care of myself properly. Don’t beat yourself too much about it.” Mina tried to appease the guilt-stricken girl, noticing the pout getting deeper by the second. “But I do feel like something’s missing…”

“What?”

“I miss your cooking.” Mina keeps her gaze forward to avoid the blonde’s eyes, “I miss you.” She whispered.

If only Mina can see the blush covering Momo’s cheeks from her subtle confession. Momo bit her lower lip, trying to stop the squeal from escaping her mouth. She slowly grabs Mina’s hand, gently stroking her thumb over the smooth skin despite the erratic thumping on her chest.

“I miss you too.”

She feels Mina’s head landing on her shoulder, their fingers steadily tangling together before ending up in a tight squeeze, just like how their hearts are right now. Momo closed her eyes, resting her head atop Mina’s who scoots closer to her side before nestling her face comfortably on the nook of Momo’s neck, the space between them became non-existant.

“Thank you for today.”

“Mhmm.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, this is a long chapter. I'm sorry if the added MiTzu scene is too long but it's important for the development of their friendship (and also SaTzu progress tehee) Thank you for reading, giving comments, subscribing and leaving kudos! You guys are the best <3


	3. Take care of my heart

The midterm ends rather fast for the students as most tried their best to cram everything they learned overnight, and that includes Momo. She doesn’t really care about the result, as long as she passes the papers because there are still assignments and end term examination to fill her grades by the end of the semester. Let bygones be bygones, they say. If she’s going to regret one thing, it would be the instant food and ramen she had to gobble down during those five days of battle.

It’s the weekend and Momo wants nothing more than to spend a few hours in the cooking lab to finish her class assignment before working in the restaurant to make up for the times she missed. Instead, here she is in the dorm, sitting cross-legged on the floor, labeling and taping stack of boxes for her roommate who was supposed to be gone before the new semester even start. It is almost the middle of the term but this supposedly graduating senior is still mooching off of her with reason that the management shouldn’t waste a vacant room.

“I’m only utilizing what is given to me as a former student to the fullest. Besides, I haven’t checked out yet so it’s still considered as my room.”

“Unofficially and illegally.” Momo argued before tearing the tape with her teeth, “I thought the system would automatically replace your name with a new student or something once you’ve finished the term?”

“That,” An eyebrow raised. “Is none of your business.”

Of course, Momo should have expected it. No one can resist the Im Nayeon who was the valedictorian of her class, also the apple of everyone’s eyes, lecturers and fellow students alike. Let’s just say, the whole campus knows and loves Nayeon very dearly that she can have her way with anything and get away with both hands clean. For Momo to be her roommate since freshman year is considered to be the luckiest of them all, but it isn’t as fabulous as what people claimed to be. Life as Nayeon’s roommate, was a triangle of complicated and appealing combine in a small cube of disordered mess.

In other word; life’s a roller coaster.

And Momo is never fond of roller coaster. Living as a foreign student is hard enough for her, imagine how hard it is to have a living roller coaster in the form of a human within close proximity. After suffering for almost two and a half years, Momo is glad the girl is finally graduating and going for an internship program in another town. That is why instead of walking to the campus to finish her assignments, Momo prefers to help the older pack her things because the faster they wrap everything, the faster she leaves. For good.

“You’re badmouthing me.” Nayeon’s eyes narrow accusingly at her engrossed roommate who purposely pulls the tape with so much force, it made a loud noise. “Did you hear my mouth say anything?”

The older rolls her eyes. “Mentally, you are.”

Momo scoffs, “You’re a marketing analyst, not a mind reader.”

“Speaking of that,” The girl groans, “I can’t believe Jeongyeon stood me up in the last minute. She promised we would take all of these to our new apartment today, but of course she has to be the good daughter to her father and help out at the cafe.”

Momo still wonders how the heck she just managed to divert to another topic within seconds, but since she’s already used to it in the span of them living together, she just followed along.

“What’s wrong with that? Weren’t you the one gushing about how great she is for having a family-oriented mind? You should be grateful you managed to score the dream partner you’ve always wished for.”

“Of course I am!” The older frowns, “But you know how Jeongyeon is. Sometimes, it feels like she isn’t attentive enough to my need as her girlfriend. I feel neglected, you know? She always ignores me when I declare my love shamelessly. Can’t you see how stressing this is?”

_Here we go again_ , she silently sighs. The blonde stands up to get a red marker from her table, her mind remembering the tall figure of Nayeon’s girlfriend she had met when the latter was dragged along to stay a night or two whenever they were in town. Something about Nayeon being a worrywart of Momo’s wellbeing, Jeongyeon had mentioned before. Surprisingly, Momo had clicked fairly well with the no jam girl, exchanging a lot of embarrassing stories and jokes mainly with Nayeon as the main character.

She was curious about their meeting because believe it or not, it didn’t start well for both of them. They were at odds, competing for the same internship position in the company. But somehow Jeongyeon had backed down for reason unknown just after they emailed her as the final candidate for the internship position. Instead, she reached out to Nayeon (she spilled coffee on Nayeon’s skirt after the interview, in exchange of the latter’s number so she can buy a new one to replace the ugly pair she wore) to go to the company in her place, effectively giving her the job. After that, they begin contacting each other and voila… the rest is history.

“Tell me how long have you been in this relationship?”

Nayeon counts in her head while transferring a box near the door. “Almost 3 months?”

“Wait, hold on... You two met at the interview like, what, 5 months ago?” Momo lifts in eyebrow, receiving a nonchalant shrug from the older. “It’s love at first sight.”

“Weren’t you fighting all the time?”

“Love can manifest in many other ways, Momo. Not just sappy, romantic cliché scene of oh I fall on you so you can catch me and be drown in my glittering eyes, whatever that is.” Nayeon grimaced, “Sometimes it appears in a love-hate relationship, a frenemies turn lovers, or just strangers fighting for an internship job in the same company.”

The blonde’s hand paused from writing the last letter on the masking tape, her head registering Nayeon’s once-in-a-blue-moon useful fact. She observes the smile still adorning the latter’s face, the same toothy grin she always gives to everyone. But in Momo’s eyes, it has a deeper meaning behind it; the same glint she has whenever Jeongyeon is around.

“I think there’s nothing to worry about.” Momo straightens her back after labeling the last box, noticing a figure standing by the door. “From what I see, she loves you as much as you do. She just… rather shows it with action rather than words, I guess?”

“Yeah, right. You said that just to make me feel good.”

“I’m not. You should really turn around and see with your own eyes.”

Nayeon shakes her head before twisting her body after pulling the last poster on the wall, her eyes widen at the sight of a tall figure by the door. She squeals like a dolphin before pummeling the poor Jeongyeon with her whole weight.

“Miss me much?”

“What do you think?” She slaps her partner’s arm with a pout, “You miss all the hard work and I have to force Momo to help me when she has other things to do. I should have dated her instead of you!”

“Would you?” The taller asks back in a challenging tone, prompting Nayeon to roll her eyes in defeat. “I hate you.” She mumbles cutely.

“Glad to know that.” Jeongyeon wears a lopsided grin before pinching her lover’s cheek. She greets the roommate quietly standing at the corner. “I hope she’s not giving you a hard time, Mo. Given that she’s…” She motions to the clingy Nayeon with her eyes, receiving a sharp jab on the stomach from the pouting bunny.

“It’s fine, It’s the least I can do before she leaves.”

“You’re so eager for me to disappear, huh?”

Momo avoids Nayeon’s dagger eyes, offering to send the boxes to Jeongyeon’s car which the latter agreed in a snap before dragging her away to save them from the wrath of HimNayeon. Sana was walking to Momo’s room when she found Nayeon hunching down on the table, scribbling what looks like a note on the blonde’s table. She knocks on the door to get the older’s attention.

“Oh, Sana! Looking for Momo?”

“Yeah, where is she?” Sana walks in, scanning the once disorganized side of her best friend’s room to be empty. “Ah, she’s helping with the boxes. She’ll be up anytime soon.”

“So, you’re leaving?”

“Yep, for good.” She closes the lid of the pen before turning around to face the frequent visitor of her room during her glorious days as a student. “I’ve been getting warning emails from the management every week. It’s about time I give them a rest and let my name cease from the spotlight, right?”

The shiba shrugs, “You’re Im Nayeon. You’ll always be the talk of town even when you’re an old hag.”

“Yah! Are you insinuating that I’m old?”

“Aren’t you?” Sana smiles teasingly, only to whip her head at the sight of blonde hair walking inside the room. “You seem to be in a good mood.”

Momo only responded by lifting her shoulder along with a wide grin, her eyes taking in the empty wall of Nayeon’s side. “I finally got a room to myself.”

“Aish, you two… I’m leaving today and this is the treatment I get for my last day here?”

“I doubt it. I can already imagine you popping out in the middle of the night to freeload on Momo’s food stock.”

“Just as she said.” Momo deadpans with a hand raised, getting a high five from her giggling bestfriend. Nayeon merely pouts before she gives them a hug and bidding goodbye, not before telling Momo that her payment is on the table. Raising an eyebrow, she approaches the table and picks up the yellow post-it paper scribbled with an address and a name of a restaurant belonging to Jeongyeon’s family. Below is a small PS: bring your plus one too and three hearts.

“Oh, free food? Bring me as your date!”

“In your dreams.” Momo flicks her forehead, earning a yelp and a deep pout from the squirrel. “You want Tzuyu to kill me in my sleep?”

“My Chewy is a baby, she wouldn’t even hurt a fly.” Sana proudly states with a smug smile. “By the way, we’re officially dating now.”

“Hmm.” The blonde nods absentmindedly, only to let out a deep and loud “EHHH?”

The grinning Sana suddenly turns mushy as she ducks her head low, palms covering her heated cheeks and the elated grin reaching her ears while trying to stop the squeal bubbling in her throat from the overwhelming joy.

“No. Way.” Momo gasps loudly, still not believing that the reserved girl is finally accepting Sana’s advances. “When did this happen?”

“Well…” Sana sways her upper body left and right, trying to shake the flutters in her chest. “She kissed me yesterday.”

_Sana had just finished her class and was about to leave for the next period when suddenly a group of guys circled her by the door. She recognized them, the football jocks lead by Jaebum who has persistently been asking her out since the semester start. The many times he tried his luck with her, were also the many times he was flatly rejected by the girl. Initially she played along, thinking it will be just a one time thing. Now, she’s starting to regret ever having contact with him because this guy is a blockhead with a sponge replacing his brain in that strong skull of his._

_“Hey, Sana. For you.” Jaebum presents a single rose to her, his friends making annoying whistling sound. “You haven’t replied my message for the whole week. I miss you, you know?”_

_Sana merely stared at the flower, before closing her eyes with a sigh. “I’m really sorry, Jaebum. But I’m not interested.”_

_“Why?” His broad shoulders sagged, the flower too wilting at her respond. “Do you have someone you like?”_

_“Jaebum, I –“_

_“As a matter of fact, she does.”_

_Out of nowhere, a tall figure appeared on Sana’s peripheral view. She grabbed the latter’s hand and turned her body towards her, their body squished together. Sana’s eyes widen at the close proximity, loudly gulping at the strong stare she received from the tall junior._

_“Sana-unnie?”_

_“Y-Yes?”_

_Tzuyu’s eyes fall on her lips, her voice as gentle as ever that it flicked Sana’s heart into beating a frenzy rhythm. “Please, be mine?”_

_“E-Eh…?”_

_Tzuyu touched her cheek, her face slowly getting nearer prompting Sana to flutter her eyes close, a hand clutching the younger’s shirt on her chest as an arm pulled her body closer. Her whole body melts when their lips met, the soft contact making her heart soar up to the sky before bursting in all sorts of colors. The hand clasping Tzuyu’s shirt loosen, the abnormal loud thudding of the younger’s heart can be felt through the fabric. She smiled into the kiss, knowing the aloof girl is feeling the same too, their hearts pounding a similar pattern. They parted when Jaebum cleared his throat, only to plain ignore him as they got lost in each other’s eyes._

_“Thank you for waiting patiently for me, Sana-unnie.”_

_“Tzuyu…”_

“Wow.” Momo attempts a whistle, which failed horribly. “She really did that?”

“Yeah, even I’m surprised my Chewy is able to do that.” Sana fondly sighs, only to let out the squeal she’s been holding in out of pure bliss.

“Yah! Why are you being like this?” Momo closed her ears from the screeching squeal, “You’re acting like that was your first kiss.”

“It is my first kiss.” Sana mumbled shyly, her ears becoming red too.

“What? But… your flings?”

She rolled her eyes, “They’re just flings. Who would kiss someone on a first date, anyway?”

Momo let the new information sinks in, clearly surprised with what she just find out from the usually flirty and touchy childhood friend of hers.

“Can I ask you something?”

“It’s not about the kiss, right? Cause I’m definitely not telling you, pervert.” The squirrel received a smack on her head. “No! I just… how do you know you love Tzuyu and not those people you’ve dated before?”

Sana looks up to think of an answer. “Now that you asked about it, I’m not really sure either. I mean, the dates are fun and it’s nice to meet someone new and all. But with Tzuyu, there’s nothing as such.”

“Huh? Then how…?”

Sana giggles from the dumbfounded face of the blonde. “Tzuyu doesn’t treat me like how others did, she’s different. I am a social butterfly, and people are attracted to me naturally. However, Tzuyu made me chase for her instead. She made me crave for her attention, and the more I spend time with her, the more exciting it becomes because I get to unravel a part of her that not everyone has the privilege to know. She’s a special one, the only one who managed to capture my heart.”

There it is again. That one smile she always sees on Nayeon’s face, now painted on her bestfriend’s feature. All because of their significant others who managed to give them the different glint of someone being in love and being loved.

“But that’s just me. Everyone’s experience with love is different,” Sana smirks knowingly while wiggling her eyebrows. “Just like you and the penguin.”

The blonde avoids Sana’s attack of prodding her waist, “If you’re here just to tease me about Mina, the door is your destination.”

“Oh, that reminds me. I was actually here to fetch you since Mina –”

Momo jumps to her feet, “What happened to her?”

“Oh, geez… relax! We can’t reach you since you were so busy tending to Nayeon-unnie’s last wish.” She rolled her eyes as Momo rushes to reach for her phone charging under the table. “She ordered take-aways for lunch later, to repay you for taking care of her when she was sick.”

“She didn’t have to.” Momo murmured to herself while checking the missed calls and chat from the vice president.

“Too late. She’s already waiting in our room so get your ass moving now!”

As she follows Sana back to her room in the opposite building, her mind drifts to the many things currently occupying her head, mostly of a certain penguin. She knows she has a little crush on Mina… well, scratch that. She definitely feels something HUGE for Mina, and there’s probably a few out there who feels the same way as her.

She heard the juniors in her dance club talking about the president, that Johnny ~~Johnny yes papa~~ guy having a crush on Mina. Perhaps that was the reason why he’s been giving her the stinky eye whenever they came across each other in the hallway or being plain rude when she’s in the meeting room with Mina.

Well, one thing’s for sure is he’s never going to be on Mina’s good side.

But then… what about Mina, though?

“Do you like anyone?” Momo blurts out the question as she turns to the girl taking a sip of water, the content almost spurts out if not for her quick reflex to clamp her mouth shut. Sana muffles her laugh with a hand, the other handing Mina a tissue.

“Why?” Mina asked dubiously while patting the droplets of water on her lap, only for Sana to interrupt with a low “Isn’t it obvious?” while looking at her phone, the playful grin still plastered on her face.

She turns to Momo, finding the girl frozen with apparent blush on her face. Ducking her head low, she shoves a mouthful of fried rice. “I do.”

“Oh.” She can see Momo’s crestfallen face from the corner of her eyes. “That guy must be a cool person, huh?”

“Not really.” A smile grazes Mina’s lips. “That person is annoying and likes to tease me. Sometimes silly, but has a really kind heart, really selfless and compassionate about others with intense passion for their dream.”

The blonde bobs her head slowly, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling growing in her chest. She musters a smile, “I can tell that he’s a really great guy. He must have been doing a lot of great things for you to like him that much.”

“Well, those qualities weren’t really the main reason why I like that person.” Mina plays around with the rice in her bowl. “It’s… for a weird reason.”

“Tell me.”

Mina contemplates as she tries to arrange the words. “Have you heard of the saying that ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’?”

Momo laughs from the popular catchphrase she grows up with. “My grandmother is a fan of that, it’s one of the reasons why she forced me to take cooking in the first place. But in my honest opinion, I don’t think it will work that way. I mean, I’ve been cooking in the restaurant for months but no one has come up and say upfront they love me or something like that.” Momo laughs at the absurdity of it with a shake of her head, “Let’s be real here. You’ve been eating the food I made, but you don’t even feel anything for me, right?”

“What if –” Mina gulps, her fingers gripping the spoon a tad too tight. “What if I do?” Mina looks up, and the smile playing on Momo’s face slowly fallen at the sight, her heart thumping a beat she doesn’t know its capable of.

“Uh, you mean…” Momo points to herself before pointing to the blushing penguin who gives her an expectant look.

“Oh.”

Sana, who’s been silently listening to these two oblivious friends in frustration, shakes her head exasperatedly with a deep sigh. “I can’t believe I’m friends with these two dumdums.”

*

“I expect better from you, Miss Hirai. Not,” He shakes his head disapprovingly while tapping the paper on the table. “This.”

Momo keeps mum, ducking her head low to avoid the disappointed stare of the head of her department. She keeps her gaze on the paper, taking in the numbers for the result of her midterm papers. They barely made it as passable, except for one subject which expectedly, she excels the most. A small smile plays on her lips.

“If you think I’ll let you go because of that one paper you aced, you’re definitely wrong.” The smile immediately replaced with a frown, “It’s great that you have exceptional skills in cooking, but I need to remind you again that this is not a culinary school, Miss Hirai. You’re here for something better, greater even, and that’s what we’re expecting from our student.”

She gives a slight nod, like how someone getting reprimanded should do.

“I commend you participation as a volunteer in all sorts of activities but be aware that you are a graduating student this year. Please start acting like one, Miss Hirai, unless you’re planning for an extended stay here, which I’m heavily against of.”

Momo heaves a deep breath after closing the door of the dean’s office, her shoulders sagging from the unwanted half an hour lecture. It’s her fault, she admits, for not putting as much effort in her studies. She is in the final year, damn it, it’s about time she start thinking of the future which is kind of bleak for her at the moment. She loves cooking, but that’s it. Learning about nutritional value, health awareness, diseases and sorts just give her one heck of a headache because at the end of it, she only thinks of opening a restaurant and working as a chef.

Maybe she did get into the wrong course, courtesy of her late grandmother’s wish.

_“Do you like cooking, Momo?”_

_“Of course! I love eating as much as cooking, obaa-chan.”_

_“Good, because I don’t want you to take culinary after you graduated from high school.”_

_“Eh?”_

_“Apply for a nutrition course instead.”_

_“But, why?”_

_“Because the TV said so. Make sure you listen to me, okay Momo?”_

Momo sighs deeply at the memory, fully regretting her decision for blindly following the old woman’s advice. Just as she steps out of the staffs’ room, her bleak mood takes a sudden turn at the sight of a girl having difficulty with stacks of papers by the waiting chair outside.

“Penguin!”

“Momo? Oh, you don’t have to –” She quickly snatches a pile from the thick heap Mina’s holding. “But I want to.”

“Thank you.” The voice is small, but the blonde heard it nonetheless. Her hearing is already tuned to Mina’s gentle and soft voice from the countless time they spend together. “Were you in trouble? Is that why you’re here?”

“Eh? What makes you think that?”

“Because your appearance alone screams trouble.”

“Yah! I have an innocent, baby-like face, mind you.”

“A perfect face for a criminal.”

“Criminal – hey! I’m not a criminal!”

Mina apologizes in the midst of her laughing, causing the blonde to make a deep pout for being teased. The vice president continues interrogating Momo for her unanswered question.

“Starting to get interested in my life affairs, huh?”

Mina rolls her eyes, “Fine, don’t talk to me.”

She quickly catches up to the annoyed vice president quickening her pace. “It’s nothing really. Professor Kim wants to know the secret to my extraordinary cooking.” Momo makes a cool pose with her trademark smirk, earning a giggling fit from the penguin. Only for her to blush from Mina’s comment. “Because you got natural talent, that’s the secret.”

She silently clears her throat, “So, what about you? Your face don’t sport that troublemaker air like I do.”

“I’m always here. That’s one of the advantages of being a vice president.” The blonde clicks her tongue, “Show off.”

Mina simply smiles, but it doesn’t reaches her eyes, Momo noticed. “I received a recommendation letter for an internship program.”

“Eh? Hey, that’s great news!”

“It’s nothing really.”

“What do you mean? It’s absolutely a _thing_ to be proud of! You deserve it with all the hard work you’ve been doing, Mina.”

“Thank you. But really, it’s nothing to make a fuss of.”

“Ey, this calls for a celebration. We should do a small party for you! You at least deserve that, Miss Vice President.”

“But I don’t like the attention.”

Momo smiles warmly at the hesitant response from the timid girl. It makes her want to pamper Mina a lot, considering how selfless she is with everyone. The girl likes to work in the background, not getting enough recognition for her effort and sacrifices. Momo doesn’t know about others, but she definitely wants to show Mina the appreciation she deserves.

“If that is so,” She makes a pondering face, “Then tell me what you like.”

Mina frowns at the question. “Momo, you don’t have to give me anything.”

“I didn’t say about anything, just asking what you like.”

She narrows her eyes, “I know that look.”

“Fine, no need to tell me.” She mirrored Mina’s gesture from earlier to appease the girl, but it’s not getting the reaction she expected from the latter.

Momo watches as the quiet girl plays with her left ear, her fingers rubbing on the lobe. She sees the black earring Mina always wear, wondering if she only has this pair or it means something to her. She must have treasured it a lot.

“I like your food.”

“Huh?” The blonde blinks a few times, her head still floating around the black earring. “Wait, can you say that again?”

“Nope.”

“Ehhh? But I didn’t catch it!”

“Nuh uh.”

“Noo, penguinnnn!!! My cute peng – ACK!”

Out of nowhere, something soft smashed her body. She turns her head to the clinging thing, only to be met with a giant yoda cowering on her back.

“Tzuyu?”

“Save me, unnie!” The girl pleads with desperation as she looks back to the corner she emerged from.

“Uh, save you from what?”

“The kissing monster!”

“The kissing – what?!”

Just in cue, the kissing monster appeared from the corner of the hallway. “CHOU TZUYUUU!!!”

“Eeep! If Sana-unnie asks, tell her I went the other way!”

Before they can respond to the poor girl, Tzuyu has already hid herself in between the tall fake plants by the notice board while an angry Shiba is stomping her way towards them.

“Tell me that wasn’t Tzuyu you just spoke to.”

“Tzuyu? Oh, she was here?”

“Grrr, you’re never good at lying, Momo.”

The vice president steps forward with a hand holding her roommate’s shoulder, “Sana, calm down. What’s up anyway? Why are you looking for Tzuyu like a maniac?”

The scowl on her face disappears into a dejected pout, “Ever since the confession, my Chewy is avoiding all sorts of contact with me like I’m plagued with disease! I just want my cuddle...” Mina raised an eyebrow, “and my kisses too. She never kiss me again after that day!”

Both of them heave a deep breath while shaking their heads. Knowing how persistent Sana is with her ways, no wonder Tzuyu ran away like a scared puppy.

“Maybe you should, I don’t know, tone it down a bit on the skinship thing?”

“What?! That’s my life motto, Mina!”

“But have you considered how Tzuyu felt about this?”

The kissing monster begins to slowly falter at the thought of the younger girl who seems distant at first, but she managed to gradually peels off the layer of her coldness, hiding the adorable but shy Tzuyu she comes to love. She can’t believe how patient she is with the aloof girl, now that she thinks about it.

“Take things slow,” Mina flashes a comforting smile. “Tzuyu is trying her best to warm up to you.”

“You’re right. I should consider her feelings too.” Sana inhales, her lips turning into a straight line. “I guess I’ll try to behave and stop being clingy for a while.”

“No! Y-You don’t have to, unnie!” A wild yoda suddenly jumps out from her hideout, “Not to that extent, I mean.”

“Yah!” Sana yells in shock at the sudden appearance of her lover, clearly unaware of the obvious out-of-place presence of a human standing tall in between the plastic leaves. “What in the name of love are you doing there, Tzuyu?”

“Hiding from you, of course.” Momo snickered, only to shrink from Mina’s glare.

Tzuyu takes her partner’s hands, gently grasping them with assurance. “It’s not that I’m uncomfortable with the skinship, I’m fine with it. It’s just…” She averts her gaze to the floor, “I’m not used with PDA, unnie.”

Sana would have combust and let out a loud squeal from Tzuyu’s adorable tomato face, if not for the serious conversation they’re having. Instead, she hugs the tall girl and buries her face on her shoulder. Mina and Momo watches as the two whispers among themselves, before both ends up in a tight hug with contented grins plastered on their face.

“They’re cute.” Mina comments as she motioned to Momo to leave the two lovebirds alone with a tilt of her head.

“Oh, you want to be cute too?” The blonde raises her eyebrows teasingly, “With me?”

Mina ignores her as she looked left and right, “Did you hear something?” before striding off, leaving Momo without sparing her a glance.

“What? Hold on, yah Mina! Miss Penguin!!!”

*

Momo had just finished washing the van owned by Shindong as punishment for conquering the kitchen all by herself, the other workers ending up lazing around at the back jobless. Just as she’s about to take a breather, her two favorite juniors arrive with drinks to share and dumb smile on their faces. The face of two excited beggars hoping for free food from their one and only generous unnie.

“Unnie.”

“Yes?”

“You’re close with Sana-unnie, right?”

“Unfortunately.” Momo deadpanned, taking a sip of her soda. “Why?”

“Do you know what she likes?”

“You, obviously.”

“Unnie!” The girl whines, earning a chortle from the blonde.

“There’s really nothing specific. She received a lot of gifts back then, but the ones she keeps were mostly the useful things.” She notices the down casted face of the younger. “I think Sana is not that fussy. What’s important is the thought, right here.” Momo pats her chest.

“That’s the problem.” Tzuyu laments with a serious expression. “I don’t think she deserves even the most expensive gift.”

“Eh?”

“She deserves the world, unnie.”

Momo almost spurt out the soda while Chaeyoung silently laugh at the side, not taking her eyes off the plate of free jajangmyeon.

“So you want to give her the world?” The blonde suggests jokingly.

“You know that’s impossible, unnie.” Tzuyu stated the obvious with an incredulous look directed to the older girl. “I’ll just give her my world.”

Cackles escape Chaeyoung’s lips, not even caring to cover her noodle-filled mouth while Momo chokes on her soda. She receives slaps by the laughing tiny cub, indirectly aiding Momo with her choking.

“You should stop hanging out with Chaeyoung.”

“What? What did I do?”

“You’re corrupting her innocent mind with those cheesy lines in your small doodling book.”

“Yah! That’s my artwork you’re dissing!”

Momo ignores her and turn to the sad looking girl. “What’s up, really? Did you have a fight?”

“Not really. I saw this necklace on display at the mall yesterday and I thought it would look nice with Sana-unnie.”

“Ah…” The blonde puts a finger on her chin, “But you don’t have the money.”

The girl nods, before flashing a small smile. “It’s not like I’m thinking of buying it, unnie. The necklace caught my eyes, that’s all.”

Momo remembers the small packet of cash in the back pocket of her jeans, wanting to deposit it in the bank later for safekeeping. Maybe the savings of her three months pay would enable the giant baby to buy that gift for her Sana-unnie. Momo is in love too, she knows how it feels to be in Tzuyu’s shoes. She takes a deep breath, fingers already slipping inside the pocket.

“Here.” She slams an envelope on the table, gaining a confused look from the Yoda. “What’s this, unnie?”

“My extra allowance. I got enough savings to buy a two-way ticket to Japan, honestly.” Momo nonchalantly said while stuffing her mouth with more noodles she stole from Chaeyoung’s plate.

“What? No, unnie – I can’t accept this.”

“Take it.” Momo glances up from her bowl, “Just pay me back in installments starting next month.”

Chaeyoung who’s silently watching the transaction, snorts amusedly. “Are you a loan shark now, unnie?”

“There’s no interest involve in our agreement, mind you.”

Tzuyu hesitantly takes the envelope, holding it close to her chest. “Are you sure, unnie?”

“Tzuyu-yah, you’re gonna drop a spot on my favourite dongsaeng list if you keep asking that question.”

“Wait, there’s a list? Am I included?”

“Of course, I’m not that heartless. You’re the first,” The cub’s face brightens, “From the bottom.” Only for it to fallen.

“That’s cruel!” She whines, loudly munching the remains in her mouth. “I’m gonna get to the top of that list one day and make you buy me expensive things, unnie! Mark my word!”

“You can try.” Momo snickers with a shrug, “Tzuyu and I go long way back so good luck.”

“What about Mina-unnie? How long back did you two got together, eh?” Chaeyoung smirks, her plate exchanging place with Tzuyu’s fried rice. The blonde noisily slurps her soda, purposefully ignoring the playful grin of the small cub. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Hah! You can’t fool me, unnie. I know what’s going on with you two.”

“Oh, goodness… we’re just friends! That’s it!”

“Just two friends who seems too chummy and ready to mingle. Right, Tzu?”

The girl exhales with a frown despite the glint of playfulness in her eyes, “It’s annoying how easy it is for you to gravitate towards each other, Momo-unnie. Like, magnets, you know? At first you push one another, but after finding the correct pole, you got stuck like perfectly well, it’s almost hard to separate you two.”

“Did you just explain my love life through a philosophical point of view?”

Tzuyu proudly nods, “I’m a genius, am I?”

Momo coos as she pulls the younger in a hug, the cub rolling her eyes from the older’s attempt to change the topic.

“Stop deflecting the question, unnie. Just admit it.” Chaeyoung points her chopstick to Momo, “You like her, right?”

She plainly shrugs, still on the defense with this prodding little girl. “What if I am?”

“I gotta tell you, unnie. You got a lot of competition when it comes to Mina-unnie because believe it or not, the VP is really popular with the seniors despite her cold front.” Chaeyoung said gravely like it’s the most serious thing she ever said, “You need to move fast before someone else cut in.”

“You mean someone that rhymes with ‘yes, papa?’”

“Ugh, don’t get me started with that asshole.”

Momo ignores the gossiping maknaes, her mind already thinking about the penguin. She never tells any of her close friends about her plan, but she’s actually already one step ahead of them. Based on the hint Mina had left here and there, it’s possible that she shares the same feeling. The question is, are they ready for it? She thought things are getting too fast for them but what Sana said last night begins to make sense once she put her head into it.

_“You only live once, Momo. It’s either you jump now, or die.”_

_“Won’t you die either way…?”_

_“At least you won’t regret of jumping to the unknown and experiencing it once, rather than dying without knowing what’s in it for you.”_

That night before going to sleep, Momo taps on the Amazon app on her phone, going straight to the cart symbol. Her thumb hovers over the trash icon, staring sadly at the item she’s been eyeing for the past few days. It’s part of her confession-plan-now-gone-to-the-gutter; a star-shaped stud decorated with scarlet colored Swarovski stones. She thinks Mina suits every color available in the universe, but red seems to bring out the best in her.

Perhaps, this is just another wishful thought because she just sacrificed her savings in the name of love, of two lovebirds sailing the ~~sinking~~ SaTzu ship. Maybe she should steal some of Sana’s candy stock for interest charge instead. The cogs in her head start spinning to come up with another plan for her confession, something that doesn’t need to involve a lot of cash and a lot of effort to waste. Something that she does best.

Letting out a loud sigh, Momo press the delete button.

*

“Okay, that’s a wrap! You guys did well today but make sure to remember the new steps we go through for the next session, got it?”

A chorus of yes fills the dance studio as the leader dismissed them for the day. Momo raises her hands up in the air for a silent cheer, glad that the practice is finally over before trudging to her bag at the corner.

“What do you think, Momo? Any new candidate for the regional dance competition team?” The leader appears by her side, chugging a bottle of water.

“I’ve been eyeing a few of them, but they are mostly freshmen.” She hangs the small towel on her neck, before grabbing both ends of it. “Maybe we need to observe a bit more. I’ll tell you my picks on our next meeting.”

“Fine by me.”

Just as they end the conversation, a junior pokes her head inside. “Sunbae, the President is here!”

“Huh? What does he wants?”

“Well, he’s not looking for you, Irene-sunbae.” She tilts her head to the other senior. “She wants to meet Momo-sunbae.”

“Eh, me?”

The leader lets out a deep sigh while shaking her head. “Why are you always in trouble, Momo?”

The blonde makes a face before jabbing the snickering Irene on her waist. Grabbing her things while wearing her hoodie, she walks out of the door to be met with the face she came to dislike. Momo merely raises her brow in question when their eyes met, not in the mood to start the greetings because one thing’s for sure; she already hates his guts at the sight of his so-called ‘charming’ smile.

“Took you a while.”

“Make it quick, I need to run for my shift now.”

His smile slightly falters at the harmless but spite tone of the blonde. Clearing his throat, he hands out a bag filled with all sorts of Momo’s favorite candies. She wears a confused look.

“It’s a peace offering.”

“For?”

“Well…” He rubs his nape while avoiding Momo’s sharp eyes. “I realized I’ve been such a jerk to you and it’s kind of unfair that you get treated like that when you did absolutely nothing. So instead of resuming this hostility between us, why not we start fresh and be friends instead? We’re already seniors, anyway. We should set a good example for the young ones.”

The blonde eyes him suspiciously, hands crossing across her chest. “You want something, don’t you?”

He laughs innocently, “What are you –”

“Spill it. I don’t have time for your shenanigans.”

He raised both hands before exhaling in defeat. “Okay, fine. I’ll be direct to the point. Look, I need some help and someone said that you’re the best in regards to this person.”

“Which person?”

“It’s,” He hesitates, directing his eyes to the floor. “Mina.”

Momo hardens her gaze at the mention of the penguin’s name. “What do you want with her?”

“I just want to get closer to her. You guys are always together and it seems like she’s a lot more comfortable with you than the others so I was thinking if you could, you know, let me hang out with you guys or something.”

She feels her chest swelling at the thought that someone did acknowledge their closeness but it quickly subsides from the clear intention of this asshole.

“What makes you think that I’ll agree with this?”

“Just trying my luck.”

Momo shakes her head with clear disappointment shown on her face, before turning on her heel to leave.

“H-Hey, wait! You haven’t listened to my offer yet!” She maintains her speed towards the staircase. “My father’s restaurant has an opening for a _commis chef_.”

Her feet stop, her back facing him. He sneers to himself, before talking in a sympathetic way. “I heard that you’re working at that run down place because you want to get recommendation from the owner’s relative to work as a junior chef.”

“And?”

“If you help me, you can have that spot in our restaurant.”

Momo clenches her fists as anger thrums through her veins. It’s really low of him to think that she would agree blindly with this plan. She has more pride than what his has to offer.

“I can manage well so no, thank you.” She saunters away, leaving the poor guy flaring in frustration.

Momo tosses around in her bed that night, her mind seems to be wide awake despite her fatigued body. She can’t stop thinking about the unpleasant encounter with Johnny earlier. Somewhere deep in her heart, lies an uneasiness of seeing Mina together with someone else that is not her. She’s been having a well-rested sleep for the past few weeks because the only dream she has is of Mina.

The cute laughter showing her gummy smile, her eyes disappearing into crescent from happiness, the pout unconsciously forming when she’s tired, or the annoyed look she gave when she’s being teased endlessly. Momo loves it all, and Momo wants it all for her.

**Momoringdingdong** : What does Mina like?

**Ahihihii** : Uh, wrong number. Who’s this?

**Momoringdingdong** : Just answer it, Sana!

**Ahihihii** : How would I know? I’m not Mina

**Momoringdingdong** : You’re her roommate

**Ahihihii** : And you suppose I stalk her for trivial things? I’m not you

**Momoringdingdong** : You stalk Tzuyu on every day basis

**Ahihihii** : It’s called life dedication 

**Ahihihii** : Why tho?

**Momoringdingdong** : For research purpose

**Ahihihii** : You know there’s a Google app on your phone, right?

**Momoringdingdong** : You’re telling me to google Mina?

**Momoringdingdong** : That’s… not a bad idea

**Ahihihii** : Good luck on that, mate

**Momoringdingdong** : I can’t believe you make me fall for that

**Ahihihii** : That’s for disturbing my sweet time with Chewy

**Momoringdingdong** : Come on, Sana! I’ll make your favorite jokbal

**Ahihihii** : That’s your favorite, not mine

**Momoringdingdong** : Sharing is caring

**Ahihihii** : What did I do in my past life to deserve such a hopeless friend

**Ahihihii** : Seriously, if you want to confess, just cook or bake something

**Ahihihii** : Mina likes your food better than she likes you

**Momoringdingdong** : Yah! What’s that supposed to mean?!

**Ahihihii** : This number is out of reach at the moment… tututuuut

Momo stares at the screen in disbelief. She heaves out a sigh, her eyes falling on a sentence Sana wrote. Her forehead scrunches as she thinks deeply, an idea popping into her head. She quickly types a message with a wide grin on her face.

**_Hey, Miss Penguin_ **

**_Are you free this weekend?_ **

*

“Are you sure this is okay?”

“You’re talking to the sole manager of this place.”

“More like the personal cleaner of this room.”

Momo dramatically gasped with a hand on her chest, “I am deeply offended, your honor.” Resulting in a giggling fit from the penguin. “Don’t worry, I’ve already fill the booking form. I just need to be the “cleaner” and make sure the place is sparkly clean after we’re done.”

She places the bag filled with ingredients on top of the table top before taking out everything. She sneaks a peek on Mina who’s observing the cooking lab in awe. Her heart twitches when her stare fell on Mina’s eyes, sparkling with excitement and amazement of a simple measuring cup with different sizes hanging on the cupboard.

“Why does it look like as if you’re in a zoo instead of a kitchen?”

Mina frowns as she rounds a corner, “I’ve never been to any kitchen other than the one back in my house.”

“Do you cook often?”

“Sometimes.” Her shoulder raised, “I’m mostly the _sous chef_ , is that what they call it?”

“Is that so? But you’re more suitable to be a porter, though.” Momo smirks teasingly, earning a confused look from the vice president.

“What’s a porter?”

“The cleaner, basically.” She barely avoids a rug thrown her away.

They managed to set up the utensils and ingredients needed for their next activity, which excites the penguin as she claps her hands eagerly. The blonde remembers Mina’s wish last time when she asked if she ever wanted to try to cook something.

_“Cookies!”_

_“Cookies?”_

_“Yeah, I’ve been watching on Youtube about these cute animal-shaped cookies they made. They look delicious!”_

_“Ah, you just want to eat them rather than make them. These cheeks will get chubbier, you know?”_

_She received a glare and a frown, “I want to make them for you.”_

_“E-Eh?”_

_“But I guess I don’t have to, since it will make your cheeks chubbier.”_

_“W-What? Wait, Mina! I was just kidding!”_

She rubs her nape at the memory, praying to herself that Mina wouldn’t remember about it. She turns to the girl who’s currently in deep concentration of scooping flour into the weighing scale. Momo giggles silently from the sheer concentration of a simple task. She’s already finished mixing up everything when Mina successfully finishes her task of measuring the floor accurately according to the recipe. The blonde decides to let Mina pour the ingredients into the mixture, only for the girl to squeal from the white grains blowing all over the place. The blonde guffawed at her flour-covered face, before running away from the furious penguin with a spatula in her hand, laughing and running around the lab in a game of tag.

They decided to compete who can decorate their cookies better, so Momo quickly takes a freshly baked batch and runs to a corner. She grins to herself, her plan going accordingly as she wished for. Satisfied with her work, Momo covers the cookies with a clean towel before carrying the plate to the vice president.

“Are you done yet?”

“Juuuust a bit more…” Her tongue protrudes out as she makes the final touch to her dog-shaped cookie. “There! Wah, I really did it!”

Momo proudly claps as she studies the decorated cookies, not expecting the adorable icing of drawings full of colors from the meticulous and studious vice president.

“Eh? What’s this?” Her voice raised an octave as she corners a separate batch, each written with a hiragana character that makes out “thank you” in Japanese.

“For everything you’ve done for me.” Mina turns to her with both hands on her back, a warm smile adorning her face with red hues on her cheeks. The blonde is stunned by the sight, her twitching heart making a pounding sound so loud, she feared if she’s going to have a heart attack soon.

“It’s… It’s nothing, really.” Momo scratches her nape sheepishly, averting her gaze to another cookie with a weird character drawn. A square face with large heart-shaped ears and whiskers. Mina appears by her side, “That’s a Moguri.”

“A what?”

“Moguri, since you look like a raccoon most of the time.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” She pouts, but it morphs into a smile as she fondly watches the girl she likes happily laughing at her.

“Now let’s see your cookies.”

At the mention of that, the blonde got frozen on her spot as she anxiously watches Mina pull the covers away. The grin on the latter’s face slowly falters while Momo counts the seconds in her head with thumping chest and sweaty hands. In the middle of the penguin cookies making a big circle, is three round cookies decorated with “I ♥ U” on each of them. She thought it was a perfect plan, but now, Momo isn’t sure anymore as Mina keeps still without any movement, eyes still on the cookies.

“Uh, I guess you win this round, eh?” She forced a laugh, but it quickly dissipates when she sees Mina ducking her head lower. She can almost feel her heart clenching in disappointment, knowing she had failed. However, the cookie with heart icing appeared before her eyes.

Momo looks up, meeting eyes with a blushing Mina holding out the cookie.

“W-What?”

“Take it.” She mumbles. “It’s my heart.”

Her heart throbs with joy from the hint of acceptance from Mina, a grin so wide etches on her face. She takes the hand holding the cookie, clasping their hands together. “It was supposed to be my heart,” She giggles softly. “I’ll definitely treasure it.”

“You mean it?” Mina looks at her expectantly, the blonde can see the orbs shining a bright color of brown. But Momo is being the usual Momo she is, with mirth playing on her lips as she responds.

“What, the cookie?” She lifts their hands holding the sweet treat. “Of course! I’ll keep it in an air-tight container and keep it hidden inside the fridge so it won’t rot –“

“Yah! I wasn’t talking about the cookie!”

Mina slaps Momo with a pout, which the blonde grab ahold of before pulling her closer, placing the pouting girl’s hand on top of her left chest. She stares deeply into Mina’s eyes, as if to convey the deepest desire of her heart.

“You already own a place in my heart, Mina.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New characters, some will play a major role as the turning point of the story. Guess who?  
> Got stuck with tons of work, it's overwhelming! Hope you have a great day ahead, stay safe and don't forget to keep hydrated. Enjoy ^^
> 
> Thank you for reading, subscribing, giving kudos and leaving comments! <3


	4. Let the ship sail...

As she walks down the hall towards the student council room, she can’t help but to give apologetic smile on the many pairs of eyes giving her weird looks. No, it’s not the kind of judging, absurd look of someone’s at fault. Rather, it’s the type of wary and really careful of not meeting eyes with the wide-eyed girl walking on her side. Mina glances to her right, she herself is worried at the sight of Jihyo’s harden gaze and clenching fists. As soon as they entered the room, Mina quickly slams the door shut before turning around to interrogate her friend for the gloomy mood.

Only to jump out of surprise from a loud pop sound, confetti falling down on her face with a grinning Jihyo happily clapping her hands.

“Jihyo, what–”

“CON-GRA-TU-LAAA-TIONS!”

Jihyo starts singing while circling the startled penguin, throwing the streamers over Mina’s head and slapping her on the shoulder.

Mina blinked twice. “What was that for?”

The girl only grins, both eyes and lips widening before she raises her hands in the air. “MIMO FTW!”

The timid girl could only watch with mouth agape, her face heating up as she received another set of laugh and a loud whoop.

“H-How did you...?”

Jihyo merely raises her eyebrows with a teasing smirk. Mina can already guess the culprit, the one and only giggling machine who shares the same favorite past time of rumor-exchange with this loud microphone.

“It’s got to be Sana.” Mina mumbles under her breath.

“Ha! As expected, but nope.” Jihyo pops her lips, earning a confused look from the vice president. The latter is about to guess again but her friend quickly intervenes. “Seriously, it doesn’t matter who told me about it. What’s important is my MiMo is finally together!”

Mina could only hide her face in her palms, softly groaning with Jihyo’s sudden creativity streak of putting their names together. It happened before they even start dating, the sharp-eyed girl already spying on their supposedly “friendly rendezvous” despite Mina insisting they are really just friends having lunch together.

Well, that was what her intention was in the first place. In fact, it hasn’t even occurred in her mind that she will befriend Momo, let alone getting closer to the point of, well, being together. Everything happened so fast, Mina wonders if this is really the right thing to do. She hasn’t even found the time to consult with her close friends. Sana is immersing herself with her own agenda; bonding (more like clinging) with the Chou Tzuyu. While Jihyo, oh the ever so busy GodJihyo who’s a favorite of every lecturers and juniors alike, is being preoccupied most of the time with her willingness to help every soul in trouble.

Just like how Mina depends on her most of the time, her pillar of support for the three years they spend together in this college. The girl had been so patient and understanding with Mina, prompting the latter to slowly break out of her cocoon of timidity and insecurity. She always asks for her opinion even if the answer is already laid out in front of her, because Jihyo's calm and understanding nature always gives her a sense of assurance of the choices she made.

“So, you’re okay?” Jihyo cocks an eyebrow to her friend’s question. “About us being together?”

She inhales audibly with a smile, eyes staring back softly at the hesitant pair in front of her. “Are you?”

Mina was clearly taken aback, not expecting the question to be bounced back to her. Her head unconsciously tilts to the side, shoulders slightly sagging with uncertainty. She averts her gaze to her tangled fingers, rubbing and picking the skin out of habit.

“I… I don’t know.” She mumbled.

A hand lands on her fidgety pair, softly squeezing them together. “You do. It’s written all over your face, Mina.”

“It is?”

“Yeah.” Jihyo nods, grinning. “You’re a lot happier, and you're smiling a lot more than before.” Her other free hand joins, holding them together in a firm grasp. “There’s nothing more important for me than seeing my bestfriend happy.”

Mina quickly engulfs her friend in a hug, the latter giggling from the random affectionate gesture as she wraps her arm around the frail penguin.

“So, this means you’re okay with it?”

“Yah!” The wide-eyed Thomas pulls away. “It took a lot of self-restraint to not cringe on my sappy, emotional talk just now. Don’t waste my effort, woman!”

The penguin laughs with her gums showing while Jihyo’s pout deepens. Her frown slowly turns to a fond smile, pinching her friend’s cheeks just to mess with her.

“Momo is really whipped for you.”

“You’re just jealous of us.” Mina sticks out her tongue.

“Meh, I’m too busy for that.” She glances to her wristwatch. “In fact, I have a tutoring session in a few minutes.”

“Wow, even Johnny has a lot of time to spare as compared to you. And he’s the president.” Mina rolls her eyes at that, earning a chortle from Jihyo.

“A mere peasant cannot compare with a celestial being like me.” Jihyo flips her hair, making her trademark GodJihyo pose. “My presence brings salvation to the college.”

“More like a scapegoat for failing students, though.”

“Shut it, Myoui.”

Mina shakes her head amusedly at the glare she receives, when a knock interrupts their conversation. Her eyes brighten at the sight of Tzuyu peeking from the door, her stomach automatically rumbles.

“Tzuyu! Here as an errand girl again?”

“Eh?” The tall girl steps inside with a big question mark shown on her face.

“Oh, you’re not here for…”

“No, she’s not.” Jihyo interrupts with a pat on Mina’s shoulder. “The kid’s having a session with me. Right, Tzuyu-ah?”

“Uh, yeah.” She smiles apologetically to her penguin unnie. “I’m sorry, Mina-unnie.”

“No, it’s fine.” Mina responded with a smile of her own, one which didn’t reach her eyes. They notice the down-casted look of the vice president, who is still unaware of another presence lurking by the door with her yellow hair protruding behind Tzuyu’s shoulders. Jihyo bites her lower lip to refrain from bursting out a laugh while Tzuyu silently steps aside, exposing the hiding figure smiling fondly at her sad partner.

“Ehem.”

Jihyo pokes the sullen penguin, motioning her to look at the door. Within seconds, the gloomy eyes glow brightly as a certain blonde waves the paper bags in her hand with a dorky grin.

“Lunch?”

Jihyo quickly leaves the two lovebirds with Tzuyu in tow, not before leaving a comment.

“Mina, I take back what I said.” The girl raised an eyebrow at the smirking Jihyo standing by the door. “You’re both whipped for each other.”

Jihyo lets out a loud cackle as she slams the door close, satisfied to see the blushing mess of the couple inside.

*

They picked a table quite far from the building, the place being shaded by a huge tree at the back of the cafeteria that no one seems to pay attention to. Momo had reasoned that the tree might be haunted, which the vice president regards it as nothing more than excuses to escape the heat outside as compared to the air-conditioned cafeteria. It’s a really nice spot to relax, a great place to hide from wandering eyes that like to poke their noses into others’ business. Mina had voiced out her concern about their relationship, wanting to lay low for the moment and if possible, keep it a secret for the time being.

She hates attention, even more when it’s related to her privacy.

She had anticipate Momo's dissatisfaction with her decision, already making up a list of reasons to present to the arguing blonde. However, she was surprised that Momo had taken it well, even agreeing with Mina’s suggestion without a hitch.

_“You’re… fine with it?”_

_“Sure.” Momo shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. “I mean, what’s the fuss though? Do we need to declare to everyone that you’re mine?”_

_Mina was rendered speechless with Momo’s straightforwardness in this matter. No, it’s not about her laidback attitude. But the way she’s so sure that Mina already belongs to her._

_A subtle smirk appears, one that never fails to make her heart throbs in delight. “I’m not wrong, am I?”_

_“W-What?”_

_“That you’re mine.”_

_She turns into a tomato mess, trying to hide her red face behind her long bangs. But her attempt seems futile as the blonde scoots closer, gently brushing the stray tendrils behind her ear. She looks up, only to regret it. She feels like drowning in those pair of gentle, dark brown orbs that shows nothing but affection._

_“You look funny.”_

_“Hm?”_

_“Why are you so red like a tomato?” Momo laughs before feigning a gasp. “Did you eat a whole bottle of ketchup for breakfast?”_

_“Yah!”_

Mina shakes her head as she recalls the day, a smile playing on her lips. She loves how easy it is for the blonde to make her feel all sorts of emotions. A roller coaster of emotions that Mina doesn’t even know exists in her. The girl doesn’t put too much effort to make her fall for her; Momo is just being Momo. They might have started on a bad term; she really hates Momo’s guts the first time they met at the convenience store. But somehow, her annoying and persistent approaches seem to do their job in melting Mina’s tough façade. It’s kind of endearing for Mina that someone can effortlessly make her feel comfortable in the short span of time they’ve known each other.

She looks up from her box of rice and _bulgogi_ , a fond smile slowly forms as Momo chews her meat with full concentration, already taking another spoonful of rice into her full mouth. She can’t believe how much she loathes the blonde a few months back. Like, how can a person hate this gentle, soft human than doesn’t think about anything other than food. Of course, that damn striking bright blonde hair seems to attract unwanted attention ~~and problems~~ for Momo, but that’s where the main charm is. She suits blonde so much, Mina doesn’t think she can imagine the girl with a different hair color.

“You’re not hungry?”

“Hm?” Mina asked with a tilt of her head, causing the still munching Momo to snicker to herself. “You’re really one amusing girl.”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw you shaking your head, smiling, sighing, before smiling again for the past 10 minutes.” The blonde smirks as she wiggles an eyebrow. “I know I’m attractive, but you don’t have to stare like that.”

Mina fakes a gag, “As if I’d waste my precious time watching you.”

“Exactly. You have a lifetime to spare, Miss Penguin.” She received an annoying grin and a wink. “So please refrain yourself from gawking so much at me in the future– MPFHH!”

“It’s rude to talk while eating.”

Mina deadpans after shoving a large spoon of rice into the blonde’s mouth, effectively silencing the latter choking on her food. She takes back her words; Momo being annoying is still annoying, period.

There are still remnants of blemish on the penguin’s face when Momo insists to accompany her for the next class. She quickly shoos the blonde away before reaching the door, only for the latter to lean on the wall with her arms crossed and that irritating smile etched on her face. A smile she slowly comes to love and miss on days they are busy with their own schedule.

“Go.”

“You go in first.”

The vice president rolls her eyes. “My foot is already inside.”

“Your other foot is not.”

“You’re annoying.”

The blonde shrugs. “You’re still here.”

A smile grazes Mina’s lips. “Don’t overwork yourself at the restaurant, okay?”

“You too.” The blonde grins, their eyes fixed on each other in a challenging stare, only for the sound of someone clearing throat to startle them from their brief eye contact.

“Miss Hirai.” Momo fully knows that voice, the infamous Mrs Bo aka the Eastern witch from hell feared by all. She had a bad history with her, an innocent prank gone wrong during freshman year that makes her name to be at the top of the witch’s blacklisted students, never to be replaced by even the most notorious prankster for the past three years.

“It’s nice to see you here, since I take you as someone who clearly loathes my class.”

Momo forced a laugh. “I still do, ma’am.”

“The feeling’s mutual.”

Momo slowly backtracks with the most innocent smile she can muster, escaping the deadly glower of the plump woman. She catches Mina stealthily retreating inside, not without flashing an impish smile. The blonde responded with a glare, only to scramble away noisily when the professor made a disapproved noise from her nose.

In the middle of fleeing, she bumps into a squirrel pestering an innocent eagle about a lost nut. No really, it’s just Sana clinging to Dahyun in the hallway, loudly whining to the poor girl who seems bothered by the gesture. She heard something about missing a certain yoda who’s been ignoring her calls.

“Tzuyu’s not picking up again.”

“Maybe she’s still in class.”

“You guys share the same schedule today, Dahyun.” Sana deepens her pout. “She should be free by now.”

“Well, she might have something to do.” The pale girl tries to reason. “Let’s just go first, unnie. We can wait for her at the cafe.”

“I’m not going anywhere until she picks up my call.”

“What’s up?” Somehow, the younger’s eyes brightens as Momo pops out in front of her. “She’s pestering you, Dubu?”

Dahyun gives her a grateful smile followed with a shake of her head. “Sana-unnie can’t get a hold of Tzuyu.”

“Oh, she’s in the library with Jihyo.” Momo said, recalling the two she met before her lunch date with Mina.

“Jihyo?!” The two winced from the screeching voice. “What is she doing with Jihyo?”

“She failed a paper so she asked Jihyo to tutor her.”

“Ehh? Why didn’t she ask me instead? I can tutor her too, I got good grades.”

Momo lifts an eyebrow, “It’s statistics.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, you suck in that. Sucks for you.” Momo snickers, gaining a pout from the squirrel.

“I’m going there.”

“What? Sana-unnie, what about–”

And the squirrel vanishes, leaving Dahyun dumbfounded at the abrupt disappearance. The blonde notices something off with this lovely junior of hers. The girl was one of the dance club members last year, and also a close friend of Sana. They had spent a handful of time together for Momo to understand the underlying emotion hidden under that bright smile she always wears. And by emotions, she means the deep, hidden crush Dahyun has on her childhood friend.

“You okay?”

She can see the immediate switch of the pale girl’s expression, as if she’s tuned to put on a smile wherever and whenever, no matter what she feels inside.

“Yeah... It’s a common thing, anyway.”

Yep, it’s too common, she can’t fool Momo anymore.

“Are you rushing anywhere right now?”

Dahyun lets out a small sigh. “I was supposed to hang out with Sana-unnie at the new café around the block.”

“But she’s too whipped for Tzuyu.” Momo makes a long hum, slowly bobbing her head up and down. “Don’t mind that dumb squirrel. She’s hopeless when it comes to to that alien yoda.”

“Is it the same with you too, unnie?”

“Me? W-What are you talking about?”

The smirk on Dahyun’s face tells her that this girl already knows about her relationship with Mina. Damn, it must be Sana this time. She tries to appear nonchalant, but the apparent blush on her face betrays her.

“It’s okay, unnie. I won’t tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me.” Dahyun made a zipping motion on her lips, before tapping her chest to assure the blonde. “It must be nice to have your feelings reciprocated back.”

She doesn’t like the slight change in Dahyun’s voice, of sadness and longing. No, this doesn’t feel right. She shouldn’t be affected by this poor girl when she fully supports Sana and her newly-found love with Tzuyu. She’s been rooting for them since day one, trusting her instinct that the youngest might be the catalyst to change her childhood friend’s life upside down; to make Sana see her worth, inside out.

No, she shouldn’t be feeling like this. Oh, how she hope things are not as complicated as it is now. She’s not taking sides; she loves all of them dearly. But why is she feeling the guilt instead?

Dahyun looks at her in concern, still with that soft smile on her face. “Are you okay, unnie?”

“Let’s go, Dubu.”

“Huh? W-Where?”

“To that new café.” She pulls Dahyun’s hand, linking their arms together.

“Wait! You’re supposed to be working right now, aren’t you?”

“Nah, I still have some time to spare.” No, she doesn’t but she’s never on time for her shift anyway. Not that Shindong would resort to anything other than giving her an hour lecture about time management. “I’ve been thinking of tasting their new menu and see what the hype is. Maybe try a recipe or two for my assignment.”

“Won’t that be some kind of plagiarism?”

Momo grins with a peace sign. “Not if I can tweak them a bit, hehe.”

The laugh she earns lifts up some of the heaviness in her chest. Sadness doesn’t go well with her, so she’s doing her best to cheer up Dahyun in place of Sana. This is the least she can offer; to be the friend she’s supposed to be to Dahyun. The latter deserves it.

*

Mina is deep in thought, replaying the days she got food delivered to her, or the surprise visit she got from the blonde to have a meal together. It feels good to be treated like that; having someone caring deeply for you. She wonders if Momo ever feels like that too.

Maybe she should do one; a surprise visit to Momo’s workplace.

Unconsciously, Mina smiled throughout the dull entrepreneurship class as she makes plan to have dinner at the restaurant Momo works in. After her class ends, Mina walks ahead to Momo’s restaurant (it’s Shindong’s but the blonde acts like she owns that place instead), only to have a pair of baggage in the form of humans in tow. She lets them tag along, but regrets her decision immediately.

The short girl with short, shoulder-length hair narrows her big, round eyes at the infamous heartbreaker Minatozaki. “Why are you here?”

“I’m accompanying Mina for dinner since the cafeteria food sucks.” Sana glares back. “Why are _you_ here?”

Jihyo wears a smug smile. “Tzuyu invites me.”

Followed by a loud gasp.

“She. Did. Not.”

Mina huffs before glancing over her shoulder to the troublesome pair. “Tzuyu did. She owes Jihyo free meal for her tutoring lesson.”

“Ha! Take that, loser.”

“Chewy’s my girlfriend though so who’s the loser here?”

Jihyo makes a disgusted face. “Seeing a playgirl like you being all mushy and awfully in love doesn’t sit well with me. It makes me sick.”

Instead of getting offended, it only encourages Sana to become more furiously irritating and annoying. “Oh, you’re disgusted? Or jealous of us?”

Jihyo winced from the sickening, deliberate high pitch voice of the squirrel. “Yah! Stop that!”

“I don’t want to~”

Mina could only shake her head in embarrassment, internally face palming as she ignores the two loud mouths catching attention of the passersby. She pretends to not know them, increasing her pace to make a distant between them because that’s the best thing to do in this situation.

“Hey, Mina!” Jihyo calls for her after successfully leaving them quite far at the back. “Yah, what’s the rush?”

“She misses her Momoring, of course!”

“Aww, she does? Our Mitang misses her Momoring?”

Oh yeah, she forgot one important thing. Despite their weird and unexplainable love-hate friendship, these two are a match made in heaven when it comes to teasing her. She whips around to give those two a piece of her mind, only to be surprised by the sight.

“Uh, why are you guys hugging each other?”

“Because I’m the Momoring–”

“–to my Mitang! Tehee!”

They posed with a hand heart and puckered lips, and Mina wants nothing more than to dig a hole and hide inside forever, away from these good for nothing she regretfully call friends. She continues walking forward, ignoring the mooching sound and snickers following her from behind. As they reach the restaurant, her eyes fall on a small tiger sitting alone, trying to balance a straw over her lips.

“Oh, Mina-unnie?”

She offers a smile of acknowledgement before sauntering to the table being occupied by Chaeyoung. “I thought I’m the only one eating with Momo-unnie. If I know you’re coming, I would have walk with you guys instead.”

Mina lets out a shaky laugh. “It’s an impromptu plan.”

“Pfft, yeah right.” Sana snorts as she crouches down to whisper at the sitting cub. “She wants to surprise her girlfriend, that’s why.”

“Ah, is that so?” Chaeyoung’s dimple deepens as she smiles, only for her expression to morph into confusion. “Wait, girlfriend? Who?”

As if being summoned, Momo appears beside Chaeyoung and gives a smack on her head. “It’s me, idiot.”

“Yah! That hurts!” She exclaimed with a deep frown. “How come I didn’t know about this?”

“Because you’re still underage.”

“Hey, I’m not!”

The pouting cub earned laughter from everyone, only one is grinning her trademark gummy smile. That grin soon turns into a shy smile when her eyes met the chef clad in her cooking apron, staring at her with a surprised but fond look. She avoids Momo’s stare as the latter slips to her side, still with her lop-sided grin.

“Hey.” She greets the unexpected visitor. “I didn’t miss an appointment with you tonight, did I?”

Mina shakes her head at the worried blonde. “Just wanted to surprise you, that’s all.”

“Well, what’s the occasion?”

“Nothing.” She murmurs. “I just miss you.”

The view she’s having at the moment was worth the trouble she had to endured prior with the loud pair. Her hand itches to pull out her phone to snap a picture of Momo in a blushing mess just with her simple confession, despite her own ears warming up at the sudden words she blurted out. Trying to hide her flustered state, she lets out a silent giggle at the endearing view, before being interrupted by her noisy friends.

“Hello, we’re here to eat! Not to watch some sappy opera soap!” Jihyo visibly cringes with Sana faking a gag on her side.

“Should we report Momo to the owner for openly flirting instead of doing her work?”

The blonde makes an eye roll at the microphone and her sidekick squirrel. If it isn’t for Tzuyu who came to the rescue, she would have smack these two with the thick, worn out menu book before chasing them out of the restaurant. She makes a face when Sana’s eyes begin to sparkle at the appearance of her tall yoda taking their orders. Now look who’s openly flirting without shame…

“What are you having for dinner, Sana-unnie?”

“You.” A wink and a flying kiss.

Tzuyu blinks twice, before scribbling on her notepad undeterred. “Plain water it is.”

“Yah, Chewy! That’s cruel!”

Jihyo snickers loudly while slapping the table. “You deserve that.”

“What’s your problem?!”

The tall waiter ignores the bickering pair consists of her lover and the self-proclaimed big sister, already walking back to the kitchen with Momo in tow. The place isn’t that packed tonight, but the table occupied by the newly-arrived students makes the place noisy as if it’s a full house. Despite the judging stares they receive from the other few customers, Mina opts to ignore them because tonight, she wants to enjoy their company and loud conversations. It’s not always they got to spend time together like this and the vice president is in need of some time out to momentarily forgot about her taxing responsibilities. 

Momo and Tzuyu appear in the middle of their lame jokes, carrying trays on both hands filled with drinks and food. The blonde deliberately serves Mina’s meal last, laying out a different set of dish, her favourite, which earns soft gasp from the penguin. The latter looks up, earning a wink from her lover who pats her head before whispering “you deserve it” and a “thank you for your hard work”.

Apparently, all eyes on the table had fall on them, which earn teasing smiles from everyone. Jihyo is the first to coo while Sana squeals her dolphin sound, the youngest two merely watch with deep admiration at the new couple.

“Momo, you’re such a wife material, the person marrying you is one really lucky bastard.” Jihyo comments good-naturedly, only to receive a scowl from the blonde.

“Yah! How dare you call Mina a bastard?”

The penguin chokes on her cola, her face turns red from the coughing fit and blush covering her whole face. The oblivious Momo quickly rubs her back, questioning her partner if she’s fine.

“Oh, she will be once you both got married.” Sana whispered to herself, gaining another snicker from Jihyo who obviously enjoys the playful chaffs. The tall maknae clears her throat, giving a disapproved look to her two unnies before passing a napkin to Mina.

“Are you joining us too, Tzu?” Chaeyoung asked after her friend successfully reprimands the pouting unnies just with a glare.

“I will in a bit, still got a few things to do in the kitchen.”

Sana suddenly jumps in her seat. “Oh, oh! Are you cooking something special for me too, Chewy?”

“I only take orders and do the dishes, unnie.” She blatantly answered, causing the squirrel to pout again.

“Ehh? You can’t cook?”

“Uh, I don’t.” Tzuyu rubs her nape sheepishly. “But I can learn to cook, unnie… for you.”

The last whispered words made her partner squeal, the microphone joining in too, before they are engaged in a glaring battle. Momo grabs Tzuyu’s shoulder, eyes full of adoration of the young padawan she’s about to take under her wings. “Finally, I can be the mentor I want to be! Let’s cook together, Tzuyu-ah!”

“Okay, unnie.”

“Yah! That’s an offside!” Sana raised a yellow tissue and quickly slides herself in between, separating the two as she clings to Tzuyu’s arm, the latter wearing an exasperated look while Momo continues bickering with her bestfriend. Jihyo pulls Tzuyu to sit on her side, whispering to ignore the two while Mina happily laughs with Chaeyoung at the sight of the childhood bestfriends exchanging quick curses in Japanese.

A ping suddenly triggered in Chaeyoung’s brain as she stand up with her glass of orange juice raised. “Let’s celebrate the new couple!”

“Yeah!”

“Hey! We didn’t get a celebration when Tzuyu and I got together.”

Chaeyoung shrugs. “You guys are old news.”

Sana jumps to her feet, pointing a finger at the small maknae. “This is discrimination!”

“You being tall _is_ a discrimination to me.”

“It’s not my fault your growth spurt is equivalent to a dwarf!”

The small cub gasps, before holding her fists out. “Come at me, Mitoki!”

“It’s Minatozaki, you imp!”

Tzuyu scratches her head worriedly before turning to the unamused blonde. “We didn’t swap their drinks with another order, did we unnie?”

“Nope, Sana is just being her usual…” Momo made a motion of spinning her finger on her temple, earning cackles from Jihyo. Not wanting to dawdle any longer since she’s only on a short break, she pulls the growling baby tiger and shiba inu back to their respective seats and put them on a leash by making them eat their dinner in peace.

Fortunately, they managed to have a decent, civilized meal (despite some pieces of food being tossed her and there) before the girls decide to call it a day. Mina refused Sana and Tzuyu’s invitation to walk her back to the dorm, wanting to wait for the blonde to finish her shift and walk together. The squirrel’s about to make another quip but a firm tug of their tangled hand from her tall partner made her pout. Mina gives Tzuyu a grateful smile before waving them goodbye, chuckling to herself at the sight of Sana attempting to lay a smooch on the tall girl's cheek as she clings to her.

Momo appears from the back door a few minutes after, turning to Mina with a radiating smile so bright, it puts the lone orange streetlight on the alley to shame.

“Ready to go?”

They walk together in comfortable silence, with a mere inch separating them. Momo has been itching to feel the warmth of the other’s hand. They never had any contact except for the small touch when exchanging things or the accidental brushing of fingers when they walk through crowds of students, which resulted in a tingling sensation that sparks some unexplained feelings in her chest.

She craves that sensation again; she longs for her touch.

Mina notices the blonde ducking her head down, eyes lingering on her hand before a slap lands on her wrist. She gives a quizzical look at the abrupt gesture, the blonde whips her head up with an innocent face.

“There’s a mosquito.”

She lifts an eyebrow, before raising her hand to inspect the spot she was slapped. However, Momo had snatches her hand midway, checking her hand with utmost care, her forehead creasing in deep concentration before her lips curl up into a grin.

“Safe! But, just to be sure–” She takes Mina’s hand and envelopes it with her own. “In case the mosquito comes back, it can bite me instead.”

There’s warmth emanating from their attached hands, one that gives a weird buzz in Mina’s stomach; of security and rush. A rush so intense, she feels it going up her face in a delighted flush.

She seems to understand Momo’s intent though, a smirk playing on her lips. “You just want to hold my hand, don’t you?”

“No.” She turns to Mina, beaming at the knowing look. “I want to hold my _girlfriend’s_ hand and keep her close because she misses me.”

Mina wonders if Momo can see her reddening face with the lack of lighting on the alley because for some reason, she doesn’t feel like hiding it. She wants Momo to see what the latter did to her, the effect Momo has on her just by the blonde being, well, herself.

She wants Momo to see she’s falling too, not as hard as her, but she’s getting there.

“Oh! This brings back memory.”

They came to a stop in front of the convenience store where they first interact. Her lips arched at the unpleasant memory, how the blonde gave a comment so rude, she made a vow to loath the girl for the rest of her lives. It was unexpected really, that the person she supposed to hate became the person she longs to see each day.

“I actually hate this place.” Momo grimaced, earning a disbelief look from the penguin.

“Why did you go there in the first place then?”

The blonde sheepishly scratch her cheek. “I needed my daily dose of sweets after spending almost an entire day at the college and this place seems to be the closest to the dorm. But it still sucks, though.”

Momo made a punching gesture to the shop, making Mina chortle from her dorkness before slowly walking away, both enjoying the leisure pace of their walk and each other’s company.

“I actually hate you that day, too.”

“Ehh?”

Mina lets out a soft giggle at the betrayed look of her partner. “Remember that comment you made? About a penguin?”

Momo rakes her brain for the memory, slowly nodding her head with a frown. “No, I don’t.”

“Yah!” She pouts. “How could you not remember our first meeting?”

“Why should I? Everything you do reminds me of a penguin!” Momo tries to defend herself. “Besides, that wasn’t the first time we met.”

Her eyes widen at the new information. “It wasn’t?”

Momo nods her head a few times, only to mirror Mina’s expression. “Yah! You didn’t remember?”

Mina narrows her eyes at the blonde who seems to be mocking her back. “You’re lying, aren’t you?”

Momo tries her best to explain while Mina suppresses a smile from breaking her disappointed façade because a flustered Momo is really adorable. It didn’t take long for her to burst out in a fit of laughter, causing a deep frown to appear from the blonde who had panicked earlier. She tugs Momo’s hand gently, subtly telling she’s sorry while the blonde let out a small sigh of defeat, a smile playing on her lips.

She pulls their connected hands closer, the coldness of Mina’s dainty fingers caused her to dip their hands in the comfort of her jacket’s pocket as they resume their walk back to the dorm.

“Fun fact though, that’s the day I know I love penguin.”

Mina turns to her, catching the warm look she exudes before averting her gaze to the gravel road.

“I like it.”

“What?”

Mina looks up to her as she squeezes their enclosed hands with a smile. “I like the nickname penguin, since it came from you, Momoring.”

Momo feels her lungs drop at the view of the penguin blushing a deep shade of red with that soft gummy smile she loves so much, added with the pleasing way she calls her name. She wants to scream really, her limbs about to fail her from the melting down emergency she’s having.

“Ah! I can’t do this!” Momo exclaims suddenly, her eyes squeezed tight with a loud hiss.

“M-Momo? What’s wrong?”

Letting out a deep breath, Momo twists her body to fully face the worried vice president, holding both of her hands in a tight grasp. She inhales deeply, before giving a firm nod to herself.

“Mitang!”

“Y-Yeah?”

“Let’s go on a date!”

“Eh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This should be longer but I'm afraid your heart wouldn't be able to handle the fluffiness tehee. We're also going down in the next chapter so take your time to enjoy this *cues evil laughter* Oh, happy 8th anniversary to our maknae Tzumongieee!!! I'm itching to write a special chap for SaTzu but I know most of my readers are mainly MiMo shippers (bless yall) so if anyone is up to it, give me a heads up! 
> 
> On a side note, my prayers go to the people in Philippines. Do consider donating in the midst of our voting, streaming, or just going on with every day lives. Who knows, a little kind gesture goes a long way. 
> 
> Take care, stay safe and drink water! Love ya lots <3


	5. ...before it sinks deep.

Mina looks up at the restaurant that shows nothing fancy about it, just a big _EAT WITH YOO_ sign in bright colorful neon lights being placed above the double door entrance. She wasn’t expecting anything extravagant from this dinner date. Momo had told beforehand of the IOU card she got from one of her friends for a double date. She thinks a date is a must once you start dating someone because, as insisted by Momo, what exactly is dating if there’s no actual dating activity involved.

Honestly, she’s already contented with their lunch dates because she gets to hang out with Momo without even being bothered to make an appeal to the blonde. Not that she had dressed up tonight for the occasion, wearing a floral one piece sleeveless dress paired with a denim jacket, her long hair tied in a simple half-up half-down style along with a light layer of make up on.

Nope, she really wasn’t expecting anything from the date.

_“You,” Momo paused, obviously gulping. “Y-You look beautiful tonight.”_

_“Only tonight?” She retorts back, despite her ears going red at the tip._

_“N-No! I mean, you’re always beautiful! But tonight…” The blonde scanned her up and down, her lips lifted into a grin with a pleased sigh. “You look exceptionally beautiful.”_

_“Thank you.” She murmured shyly, trying to stop herself from widely smiling when she received a stalk of pink rose from the latter. Nope, it’s not the typical rose, but a Korean rose; probably from a tree they always see at the backyard of a family house across the dorm area._

_“I pluck it on the way here.”_

_“You mean, stole it?”_

_“I think they wouldn’t mind doing a little charity for a hopeless girl in love like me.”_

_How charming, Mina thought._

_It would be a lie that she wasn’t feeling the same with Momo. She was caught breathless when the blonde showed up at her door wearing something else than the usual sweat suit or hoodie over a plain colored shirt. It’s just a simple black blazer over a white button down tucked in her blue fitted jeans, her bright blonde hair tied in a low pony-tail with her bangs styled in messy tendrils. The worn out sneakers is a letdown, but Mina can let it slide with how good she looks tonight._

_“You look nice.” You should dress up like this more often, was what Mina wanted to say but refrain so because her heart can’t deal with the erratical pounding in her chest each time Momo appears all groomed and looking so good. She would die of a heart attack, soon._

_“It's just something simple.” She sheepishly rubs her nape before holding out an arm with a slight bow._ _“Are you ready?”_

_“Yes.”_

Well, maybe this dinner date does feel a bit different than their usual friendly lunch because she’s actually looking forward to it more than anything exciting in her life.

Oh, did she mention this is actually a double date? Because Mina begins to dread her decision once she steps inside the nice-looking place as she is greeted with a well-known face of a graduated senior.

“Moguri! I miss you!”

The blonde was wrapped in a crushing hug, unaware of the discomfort shown on her partner’s face of meeting the infamous queen bee in their campus. Momo wiggles herself out of the embrace, letting out a strained laugh as she rubs her sore arms.

“Are you trying to squeeze the life out of me, Nayeon?”

“Yah! Why do you have to tease me all the time?”

“I’m just stating a fact.” The blonde mumbled under her breath before whispering to Mina who’s silently watching their interactions. “I’m warning you, her deadly hug is no joke.”

Mina giggles as Momo fakes a shiver with a horrified face, only to receive a glare from Nayeon.

“Haha. Very funny.” She turns to the girl beside her ex-roommate, her eyes narrowing as she scrutinizes the newcomer’s face. “Do I know you?”

The reserved girl wears a polite smile before giving a slight bow to the older girl. “I’m Myoui Mina, a junior from the same faculty as yours.”

Nayeon loudly gasp as realization hits her. “No way! You’re that newly-elected vice president, right?”

Mina gives a small nod, feeling a little self-conscious of eyes turning their ways from Nayeon’s outburst. The latter quickly latches an arm around Momo’s neck, pulling the unexpected blonde into a huddle.

“How come you’re with her, huh?”

“Uhh, because we’re friends?”

“Really? You two don’t look like you’re suited to be friends, though?”

Momo’s lips arches into a frown. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The hushed whispers are slowly getting into Mina’s nerves, because they were quite loud to begin with and people are watching them. She deliberately clears her throat, catching their attention.

The blonde mouths an apology, catching the small frown forming on the penguin’s face. She takes her arm and pulls the girl closer for a proper introduction.

“Mina, this is Nayeon-unnie. She was my roommate for almost 3 years, before she graduated early this semester.”

The older girl offered a handshake with a toothy smile. “Sorry, I was just surprised to see you guys together because you two are exactly total opposite.”

Mina quirks a brow, the older quickly raises her palm. “Not in a bad way, I mean.”

“Cut it out, unnie. She’s just a friend.” Mina catches the worried glance directed to her. “Stop assuming that every girl I bring is a date.”

“What? I thought I told you to bring a plus one!”

“She is!”

“But you said that she’s not your date?”

The blonde rubs her nape, trying to come up with an excuse for her plus one before Mina cuts her off. “She owes me dinner for always getting on my nerve.”

“Ah, yeah. Since I’m the troublemaker, ahaha!”

Mina lets out a small breath of relief since Nayeon bought their lies, already scolding the poor girl about her streaks of misconduct.

To say that Mina doesn’t know the older girl would be a lie; everyone knows _the_ Im Nayeon. It has become an obligation for every student to mention her name at least once in their lifetime because Im Nayeon is the life of the campus.

If Sana is popular as a total sweetheart with a ground-breaking achievement of dating every famous jocks and babes available, then Nayeon is the dramatic queen bee that ruled the whole campus. The cool unnie who seems to be friends with everyone, because everyone wants to be cool like her, if that makes sense. Jihyo had mentioned once how Nayeon almost conquered the whole campus just by her loveable attitude alone, having everyone bow at her feet only with a flash of her toothy smile.

She even has an underground fanbase that worships Nayeon like a new religion, to the extent of spreading their false belief to new students to join their cult of Naytions. It takes Mina a lot of force (and patience) to curb their expansion and banish the fanbase leader from college.

Let’s not start with the new GodJihyo movement slowly surfacing out of nowhere because Mina is having enough of these ridiculous fanbase-turn-into-cult nonsense.

She heard rumors that Nayeon is loud, and Mina is never comfortable with anything loud. Must have been one of the reasons why she talks in a quiet voice. There’s a nagging feeling at the back of her head that tells her to put her guard up with this ex-senior who seems rather chummy with her lover.

Her feet automatically follow the two to a vacant table as her gaze glued on their linked arms, the older clinging rather quite close to Momo. At first she shrugs it off as a common thing between two roommates, but the lingering touches made her feel something odd; a feeling that doesn’t bode well with the throbbing in her chest.

Mina snaps out of her thought when a hand lands on her waist. Momo directs her to an empty chair she had pulled beforehand as she takes a seat beside her. A hand soon lands on hers, fingers lacing together in a light squeeze. She slowly turns to her side, the blonde giving her a warm smile. The small action managed to provide her with some comfort, calming the rage slowly bubbling in her chest as she responded with a smile of her own.

“Are you okay?”

Mina realized by then that Nayeon is nowhere to be seen, and the question accompanied with a gentle but worried pair of eyes just released a fuzzy warm sensation in her stomach. She’s probably hungry, Mina thought.

“Yeah, just a bit overwhelmed.” She slowly exhales. “I’ve never been on a date before, let alone a double date with your friends.” She leans closer, whispering with gritted teeth. “And by friends, I did not expect _the_ Im Nayeon, Momo.”

The blonde lets out a chuckle that sounds way more delighting than the jazz music coming out of the stereo. “You don’t have to worry about them. Nayeon might seem a bit crass, but she doesn’t mean any harm. That’s just how she is. And Jeongyeon is such a no-jam, you’d wonder if she’s been living as a flop clown in her past life.”

Mina rolls her eyes with a smirk. “That sounds assuring enough.”

“Relax.” Mina feels a thumb rubbing her skin in a soothing way. “I’m here with you. Nothing can go wrong with that.”

“That’s what makes it worse.”

“Hey!”

Their laughter was cut short when Nayeon appears with a tall girl that Mina presumes is the no-jam clown Momo talked about, based on Nayeon’s arm wounding around her waist.

“Wow, here I am seeing you two being soft with each other when all the rumors said that the new VP is a cold, bitchy, goody two shoes.”

The taller quickly nudged her with a glare, stating her disapproval with her partner’s behavior.

“Please ignore her. She had a rough childhood growing up.”

“Yah!”

Jeongyeon ignores her pouting girlfriend as she reaches for a handshake. “Yoo Jeongyeon at your service, welcome to the restaurant!”

“Oh, are you the owner?”

“No, it’s a family business. My dad is the owner.” Jeongyeon pushes the still pouting senior to take a seat on her chair, giving the latter a squeeze on her shoulder and a peck on her crown. Nayeon responded with a grin as she mouthed an “I love you”, contented with the small gesture.

“Is it okay if I steal Momo for a minute?”

The tall girl asked Mina, who turns to her partner with a confused look. Momo raised an eyebrow before nodding, giving the penguin and assured smile as she follows Jeongyeon to a corner away from their table. Mina turns her attention to the older when the latter let out a loud sigh.

“Even though her father is the owner, Jeongyeon mostly manages this place on her own.”

Mina bobs her head gently, grateful that the older starts the conversation rather than letting her drown in awkward silence. Despite their talk consist mostly of Nayeon complaining about her partner’s dedication to this place as compared to their love life, Mina can feel herself slowly relaxing and enjoying their small talk albeit the intimidating aura Nayeon exudes when the latter greet her earlier.

She understands now how Nayeon gains her reputation; the senior is so good in conversing that she breaks the ice with just a snap of her fingers. Even Jihyo takes a while to warm up to Mina, but here she is laughing and replying with more than a word which deems impossible for the reserved girl to engage to on a first meeting.

“I’m betting you a piece of fries that no good lover of mine is going to ditch us when they return from their short meeting.”

“Why a piece of fries though?”

“What? You want me to bet on my beauty instead?” The girl flips her hair on purpose, earning another set of giggles from the clapping penguin.

Truth to be told, the taller approaches their table with nervous smile, asking for permission to be excused for some trouble in the kitchen. Jeongyeon had expected an earful of scolding coming from Nayeon, only to be surprised when her girlfriend simply dismissed her with an understanding look. Momo had offered to come along when she received a nod from Mina while Jeongyeon calls a waiter to prepare some refreshment for their table. The taller leaves a peck on Nayeon’s cheek, before disappearing into the kitchen with Momo in tow.

“She’s so sweet, isn’t she?”

Mina smiled as she follows Nayeon’s line of view. “She might be preoccupied with the restaurant, but I can see how much she cherishes you. You’re really lucky to have Jeongyeon, unnie.”

A look of surprise flashes on her face, before it is replaced with a shy smile. “Thank you for the warm words, I really appreciate that. But I was actually talking about Momo.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean, look at her.” The girl shrugs dreamily with hands supporting her cheeks. “She readily offers to help when she is supposed to be the customer. I would have dated her if I haven’t met Jeongyeon.”

“Oh.” That gnawing feeling resurfaced again, making her anxious of where this conversation is going.

“To tell you the truth, Momo caught my eyes the second she entered our room as a new freshy. But she’s a dense girl, that Moguri.” Nayeon sighs with a forlorn look. “I made a lot of advances, but she only think of them as my sisterly affection to a _dongsaeng_. Like, how absurd can that be?”

The older scoffs before taking a sip of her water, her face grimaced from the plain taste. “I did confess to her once, though.”

Mina gulps despite her dry throat, trying her best to appear normal. “What happened?”

A cynical laugh escaped Nayeon’s lips. “I was kindly turned down, of course. Said she already has her eyes on someone. Can you believe that?” The older shakes her head, snorting to herself. “Momo is just that kind and considerate. It makes me fall for her more, unfortunately.”

There it is. The clench in her chest appeared again, and Mina feels her lungs lurched uncomfortably, her breath hitched. She puts a hand on her chest to calm down, only to catch the forlorn pair of eyes staring in the distant.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” She mustered a comforting smile, despite needing comfort herself.

Nayeon waves her off with a nonchalant laugh. “That’s all in the past though. I have Jeongyeon now and there’s nowhere I want to be than with that irritating girlfriend of mine.”

A part of her feels relieved at the sight of Nayeon smiling with a slight blush on her face, but another part is still being wary of her history with Momo. She can’t help to compare herself with Nayeon, of how perfect the woman is in comparison to her. She might be the vice president, but she was a nobody at first. She still is a nobody now, because people are addressing her as the VP instead of Myoui Mina. She can be considered as popular too, but only as a goody two shoes, just like Nayeon mentioned.

People are scared of her, not respected, or even loved.

She wonders if that’s the reason Momo agreed to keep their relationship a secret, her reputation being at stake. Because Mina is different than the blonde who is cherished by her juniors, by the members of her dance club while Mina only has her friends that she can count with her fingers.

The insecurities slowly invade her mind, but it stopped when she heard the older whines for their partners’ absence as she knocks the table impatiently. The waiter standing nearby catches the small action, immediately sprang to Nayeon’s side, looking rather anxious with the older’s seething glare.

“Where’s Jeongyeon?”

The poor boy scratches his head. “Miss Yoo is preoccupied in the kitchen at the – Hold on, Miss?”

Nayeon is already marching to the kitchen door, leaving Mina and the waiter dumbfounded. Not wanting to be left alone on the huge square table, Mina excused herself with a deep bow of apology before tailing after the retreating senior.

When she steps inside, she found the kitchen staffs whispering and standing in a circle. She found Nayeon slipping to her tall girlfriend among the crowd of chefs, her mouth opening for a scold or two to her lover, but she was stopped with a finger on her lips. Jeongyeon told her to be quiet, her eyes motioning to the chef hunching over a cutting table. Mina moves to an open space for a better view, stunned to see that the chef in spotlight standing before a huge fish is indeed her blonde girlfriend.

Momo has her shirt’s sleeves rolled up, donning the restaurant’s apron and a white bandana, fully concentrating on cutting up the whole salmon on the cutting table. Mina curiously watches as Momo sliced up half part of the body with clean execution, her hand moving with precision and fast motion. She’s not even blinking, afraid that she might missed an action that seems too intriguing to watch. Mina is entranced, amazed with how engrossed and skilled Momo is, like she’s in a world of her own, unaware of the attention she garners by every staff in the kitchen.

“What is she doing?” Nayeon whispered.

“She’s cutting the salmon.” Jeongyeon stated the obvious, earning an eye roll from her girlfriend. “I’m not blind. Just, what she’s doing really?”

“I don’t know.” The tall girl shrugs, not taking her eyes off the blonde chef. “I just asked her opinion on what to do with the salmon since we don’t have a place to store it.”

“What do you need a salmon for, though?”

Jeongyeon sighs, arms crossing over her chest with clear discontent shown on her face. “Dad’s friend is coming tomorrow for a visit. Apparently he’s an owner of a famous hotel chain and a 5-star Michelin restaurant. He wants to show off to that friend, I supposed. Unfortunately, he forgot that the freezer room is currently under maintenance.”

Mina silently listened to the hushed conversation, only to be startled at the sound of knife being stabbed on the chopping board. The improvised chef quickly moves around, smelling and checking all the ingredients available on the kitchen island. She takes a few ingredients, mixes them in a bowl before walking back to the cutting table. Her deft hands move so fast, that everyone’s at awe when she suddenly clap her hands. She turns around with a satisfied grin, presenting them with two trays of different dishes on the kitchen island.

“That was – Did you just brine the fish?” One of the cooks voiced out, earning a nod from the blonde. “Since your freezer is broken, it’s better to preserve the fish through dry-brining. It will not only keep the flesh from drying up and lose its texture, the salmon will already be seasoned by the spices and herbs. I suggest you either grill or smoke the fish to enhance its flavors.”

Jeongyeon shared looks with the chefs, all of them murmuring and nodding in agreement. Then, a waiter points to another tray, the remaining salmon being cut up into perfect blocks over a layer of crushed ice. “What about this?”

“This,” Momo takes the tray and pass it to the head chef. “Is for you.”

“Uh, me?”

“I’m actually here for dinner, and Jeongyeon already told me that I can request any dish I want as compensation.”

“Oh. Um, well…” He scratched his head before raising his shoulders. “As long as it’s not something fancy, I guess.”

Despite being blocked by a few tall men with their high caps, Momo still manages to find Mina. She gives her a smile, catching the latter surprised.

“Do you know poke bowl?”

*

The dinner date was surprisingly interesting, from Momo’s point of view. She didn’t expect her service would be needed in the kitchen, but she had a lot of fun helping with preparing the salmon. She would have accepted Jeongyeon’s kind offer to give her a spot for an internship at the restaurant. Unfortunately, it is located in another town which took more than an hour journey by bus. While that might be a disadvantage for her, at the same time she’s glad for having an excuse to refuse it because the one thing she really wants to avoid is Nayeon.

Don’t get her wrong, she doesn’t hate Nayeon or anything. But that woman can be a prick sometimes, and regrettably Mina was her victim tonight. She was throwing jabs to the poor girl in her drunken state, causing her girlfriend to be all bothered and flustered with the attention she received.

_“I really can’t fathom how the hell you became the VP?” She mumbles, her face flushed from the nth glass of wine. They lost count. “Like, do I even know you? You seem like a nobody, as compared to that Park. Oh, that annoying wide-eyed Thomas they call god. Why is she even living among human in the first place?”_

_Momo casts a glance to her side, the vice president in question seems to be taking it fairly well with her poker face. If only people know that a poker face Mina means a pissed off Mina; the blonde knows, unfortunately._

_“Like, why would those rumors came up if they weren’t true right?” Nayeon scoffed, taking another swig from her glass, only to gag from the taste. Jeongyeon had sneakily exchanged her wine with water. Thank god she’s too drunk to notice. “I know people like you, always up for the glam like the two-faced prude you are. I’m always right about these things.”_

_Seeing Mina’s jaw clenching tightly, the blonde quickly intervenes. “They’re just rumors, Nayeon. Why are you drinking so much, anyway?”_

_The older scoffed. “You.” She points her finger. “Why are you defending her?”_

_Instead of answering, Momo let out a sigh, only for a hand to grab hers in a gentle squeeze. Nayeon watches the two silently communicating with their eyes, her own pair narrowing in suspicion. “You have the hots for Myoui, do you?”_

_“Okay, that’s it. Dinner’s over.” Jeongyeon exclaimed when she sensed the tension brewing over their table._

_“But I haven’t finished the whole bottle yet!” Nayeon whined, but Jeongyeon’s already calling the waiter for their bill before struggling to pull the wobbling girl on her feet._

_“It’s fine, I got her.” She politely declines Momo’s offer to help with the drunk baggage, giving apologetic smile to them. “I’m really sorry about Nayeon. She was having a bad week at her workplace and decided to vent it out on you. I bet she’s gonna be bawling her eyes out tomorrow when she remembers what happened.”_

_“Yeah, typical Nayeon.”_

_Jeongyeon laughed as she bids them farewell, literally dragging the older kicking and punching her girlfriend for her bottle of wine._

Momo had to admit, Nayeon really went over the limit tonight. She really wants to strangle the woman like she usually would, if it wasn’t for her girlfriend’s presence. She can’t understand how can Jeongyeon put up with a wild and bold girl like Nayeon.

She glances over to the passenger seat, the silence inside the car is getting unnerving by the second. Mina is facing the window, arms wound over her chest in a protective embrace. When the car reaches a red light, Momo quickly takes off her blazer before placing it over her partner’s body.

It managed to gain Mina’s attention as the girl turns to her, confused.

“I thought you might be cold.” She shrugs, earning a small thank you and a smile from the latter.

 _Well, that’s progress._ Momo cheered to herself.

“Mind if I switch on the radio?”

Mina snorts, shaking her head in amusement. “Why do you keep asking for my permission with everything involving the car?”

The blonde feigns a gasp, a look of disbelief obvious on her face. “Ma’am, should I remind you again whose car does this belong to? I might break a button or two if I keep touching things like I own it.”

“You’re already taking the wheel, Momo.”

“Exactly! You only told me to take the wheel, not the whole car!”

Momo grins when the owner of the car cackles, showing her gummy wide smile. She keeps her eyes on the road when the light turns green, already missing the face of her penguin. Silence filled the car again, but it isn’t as suffocating as before. A hand reaches for the radio, a sappy song about love is playing on the background as the DJ reads letters from his fans.

“How did you know I like poke bowl?”

“I got the _jjirit jjirit_ from you.” Momo made the thumb signals on her head. “Since we’re telepathically connected now.”

“Says who?”

“Says your great personal chef.”

She heard a silent huff, imagining Mina rolling her eyes at her. “You’re so conceited.”

“Oh, so you admit that I’m your great personal chef?”

“You are.”

Momo steals a glance at the small whisper, her chest swelling with pleasure as her face heats up from the sudden praise. She clears her throat to stop from screaming with joy.

“I’m glad you enjoyed dinner.” The blonde changes the topic, trying to save herself from further embarrassment. “I was really worried you might be uncomfortable with the idea of having a double date.”

The pause in their conversation told Momo she had hit the wrong button with her smooth swerving of the topic in hand. She cursed inwardly while anxiously waiting, the gears in her head slowly working for another subject she can talk about when Mina makes a small hum.

“They are a lovely pair.”

“Yeah, they are.” She halts, waiting for Mina’s reaction that might show her discomfort, but the calmness she displays urged Momo to continue. “I was actually surprised Nayeon managed to find someone that can calm the storm in her. That girl is a wild rabbit, to be honest.” She chuckles, imagining the woman jumping around in her room like a bunny. “She just can’t stay in one place for a long time, always jumping around to annoy someone or just messing around for the fun of it.”

Another hum, a bit longer this time. “You guys seem really close.”

“Of course, I’m her number one victim she likes to mess with!” Momo laughs, glancing at the smiling girl beside her. “She might seem crazy at times, but Nayeon-unnie is someone really reliable once you get to know her.”

“What is she to you?”

“What?”

“Nayeon-unnie.” Momo’s forehead creases at the question. “What is she to you?”

She taps her index finger on the steering wheel, thinking of a better way to address Nayeon’s presence in her life rather than a mere roommate. “I would say a close sister.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, a really close unnie I can depend on.” She nods to herself, satisfied with the answer. She wasn’t bluffing though, she really thinks of Nayeon as another older sister but with different parents.

“Why are you asking?”

She turns her attention to the passenger seat as the car came to a stop at their dorm’s parking lot, earning a shrug from the vice president.

“Just curious, that’s all.”

*

Their conversation ended just like that, and it was also the last time Mina was in contact with the blonde. It has been three days since she ignores Momo’s attempt to reach her; be it messages or phone call, even the messenger in the form of giant yoda was ignored when the latter pays a visit to her room.

Mina’s been cooped up in her room these days, earning weird looks and endless probing from her roommate. She shrugged off Sana’s curiosity with a simple typical answer; she’s on her period. The squirrel wasn’t falling for that lame excuse, of course. But it manages to put her incessant questioning to a stop.

Tzuyu has been a really great help to her, as always. She’s being the usual errand girl, dropping off Momo’s homemade meal for her new favorite unnie before dragging her excited girlfriend out of their shared room for a walk outside. The younger seems to grasp Mina’s aloof behavior as needing space, and she’s grateful for Tzuyu’s understanding of her situation.

However, she was surprised that day when the tall girl suddenly invades her space with a deep scowl. Mina had just returned from her evening class, doing assignments on her bed with her ears plugged in when Tzuyu appeared by the door, stomping her feet to Mina’s bed and glowers over the startled senior.

“Unnie, I’m sorry if I’m being rude right now but you have to talk to Momo-unnie.” She gazed Mina down with her sharp eyes, before her face soften. “It’s not fair for her to be treated like this.”

As soon as she said that, she snatches her girlfriend’s hand and pull her out of the door, the surprised shiba could only make a small whimper of protest before the sound is muffled by the door slamming shut.

Mina squeezed her eyes shut, taking a deep breath to calm herself. She was actually feeling awful for giving the cold treatment to the blonde, the guilt slowly building up when she read the cute texts sent by Momo. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, Mina thought. She doesn’t know what makes her feel all of these disturbing thoughts; she was never one to succumb to her emotional baggage, always being the rational person she is. 

She was supposed to be happy, contented for their first date together, but instead she was having a hard time falling asleep because of the words ringing in her ears. She might have acted like Nayeon’s words doesn’t affect her much, only that they do affect her in some ways. She wasn’t as much bothered with the rumors; she’s already used to people talking behind her back. But the fact that Nayeon had a massive crush on Momo was what made her all riled up.

A notification pings from her phone.

Maybe Tzuyu was right; Momo doesn’t deserve this. She wasn’t even at fault to begin with. With a reluctant sigh, she opens their chat. A gif picture pops up, showing a cute penguin holding out its flaps for a hug.

**FoodRaccoon:** Sending you a virtual penguin because real penguin is EXPENSIVE.

 **FoodRaccoon:** Yeah, I’m talking about you

 **FoodRaccoon:** My one of a kind adorable Penguin ;)

She bit her lip, trying to suppress a smile from the pouting chubby penguin animation she received.

Oh, who is she kidding? Momo could even make her smile just by the sight of her dumb-looking face. Another balloon text pops up, asking her if she’s in the student council room. She knows Momo’s schedule by heart right now; the dance club meeting about to end in half an hour. She leaves the text at read as she rushes out of her room and drives her car to the main campus.

She can feel her breath shortening, just to realize that she had jogged up the staircase towards the third floor, instead of using the slow elevator. She keeps her composure calm when a few of the dance club members greet her, not missing the whispers and squeals regarding her rare smile.

She paused, a hand touching her face.

Oh, she is _indeed_ smiling.

She shakes her head with a snort, not believing the effect Momo has on a stoic person like her.

Reaching the door, she peeks through the window pane, finding only one person still absorbed in her dancing. 

It feels like déjà vu all over; the blonde dancing by herself in the room as she sneaks a peek inside, only this time instead of a vexing groan, it is replaced with a fond sigh.

Mina carefully enters without making a noise. She tiptoed inside, unaware that the ace of the dance club already noticed her presence, an amused smile playing on her lips at the sight of Mina walking like a funny burglar.

“You’re practicing ballet or something?”

Mina stood frozen, her left leg hanging midair with both hands flexed to her chest. She slowly turns her head to the blonde’s reflection on the opposite mirror, catching the smirk directed to her. Mina clears her throat as she flashes a sheepish smile from getting caught.

Momo twirls towards her, still in her dancing glory before holding out a hand. “May I have this dance?”

There wasn’t even a song playing, just Momo humming a tune as they waltz around the room, their steps syncing together like a rehearsed routine. Mina can’t seem to tilt her head up to look at her partner’s eyes; her gaze feels as if it bore into the depth of her soul. She feels naked, exposed, behind Momo’s deep brown orbs of wonders and starlight.

Oh, how she loves to be drown in those eyes full of life and colors.

Mina’s feet start to move on its own as she twirls herself away from the blonde, her hand swaying in a gentle languid flow while her body sways with the imaginary rhythm in their heads. A memory flashes through Momo’s mind, of the first time she saw the human penguin dancing without a care of the world. How her leg extended up in the air and her hand moves along in fluid motion before making rounds of twirls, how breathtaking she looked that night even with those messy bangs covering her eyes.

Mina still looks the same without the bangs; she’s still breathtakingly stunning.

The vice president ends her dance with an arabesque and a bow, a hand gracefully reaching out to Momo’s slacken chin and pushes the gaping mouth close.

“You’re rudely staring, miss. I might have to sue you.”

“I’m suing you first for being so beautiful,” The blonde takes a few steps closer, trapping the girl in her arms. “And for stealing my heart.”

“Two offenses in a day?” Mina lands her hands on her partner’s shoulder, a smirk playing on her face. “I think I just beat you as the top notorious troublemaker in campus.”

“Haha, very funny.” Momo rolled her eyes as she sways them in a silent beat. “How did you learn to move like that?”

Mina shrugs, pushing a stray hair behind her ear. “I attended a ballet academy for 11 years.”

Momo gasped, genuinely this time. “Wow, another mystery of Miss Penguin unlocked!”

“It’s not that amazing.” She takes a beat to answer and Momo knows she’s venturing a bit too deep. But the blonde wants to know more, wants to understand Mina.

She wants to know all of her.

“Why did you stop?”

“My parents.” Momo feels the grip around her shoulder clenching the checkered shirt she wears. “They think it’s taking too much of my time. So they stop sending me there and assigned me a private tutor instead.”

“You have a rather, interesting childhood, I’d say.”

“It’s kind of bleak, don’t you think?”

“It’s amazing for me.” A smile appeared, albeit being faint. “But we shouldn’t be too engrossed with the past. Let’s focus on the moment and make wonderful memories instead, okay?”

Mina chuckles at her girlfriend’s goofy grin. “You’re so positive about these things.”

“It’s me trying to be cool in front of you, but thank you anyway.”

Mina giggles before drawing her face closer, tucking her face in the nook of Momo’s neck. The latter feels her girlfriend letting out a deep sigh, her breath tickling her skin.

“Aren’t you mad?”

“Eh?” A tinge of red printed on Momo’s cheeks from the close proximity. “W-What for?”

“For disappearing on you.” Her face softens when Mina mumbled on her skin.

“Do you want me to?”

“No.”

“Then I won’t.” Fingers comb along Mina’s black tresses, the affectionate gesture seems to comfort the latter. “I know you’re upset and it’s okay, Mitang. I won’t get mad, you’re entitled to have those feelings.”

Mina closed her eyes, tears prickling behind her eyelids. “I don’t know why but I got scared when Nayeon-unnie said she had a deep crush on you.”

That seems to answer the blonde’s doubts for Mina’s withdrawal after their dinner date that night. She inhales silently, pulling the trembling girl closer.

“ _Had_.” Momo repeated her word, causing the girl to hum questioningly. “You said it yourself. Nayeon _had_ a crush on me. She’s in love with Jeongyeon now, right?”

“Yeah, but still –”

The blonde nods her head, trying to assure the quivering girl in her arms. “Hey, it’s okay to get scared. I would feel the same if someone suddenly confessed they have feelings for you.”

“R-Really?”

“Of course! I love you too much to let you go, Mitang. I’m not going to let someone else have you.” Momo feels her neck wet, squeezing the girl softly. “And so should you. Don’t you ever dare let me go, Mitang.”

The girl in her arms nodded, before pulling away. Her red eyes search for Momo’s for some kind of assurance of their promised oath. Mina received a smile, one so warm and gentle; it lightens the heaviness in her chest of her own insecurity.

“Together.” She leaves a gentle peck on Momo’s cheek, before burying her face in the comforting space between Momo’s collarbones. “Let’s make memories together, Momoring.”

The blonde pulls their body closer, giving the girl an convincing nod before kissing the crown of her head.

“Mm, together.” 

*

Things went well for Momo and Mina, their slight misunderstanding just make them both closer than ever. The girls became inseparable by now, people are seeing them walking together all the time that they start questioning how on earth did these two got acquainted. Like, can you imagine the goofy and grinning with her trademark dumb look of a delinquent Hirai Momo, walking coolly beside the stuck-up, always with a frown on her stoic face and intimidating aura of a vice president Myoui Mina? Nope, it’s like hell and heaven; two opposites void of any attraction.

Oh, imagine the chaos when these people discover their relationship is more than just a mere acquaintance.

Only a few of their friends know, and these special people respect the couple’s decision to keep their relationship under the radar. Even the all-knowing number one source of rumors Park Jihyo is keeping her mouth checked all the time to avoid spilling anything related to Mina’s secret affair.

“Why do you have to make it sound so wrong?”

“What?” Jihyo chews on her grapes, her eyes wide from Mina’s false claim. “I’m not wrong, though. You do have a secret affair.” She wiggles her eyebrows annoyingly. “With your Momoring~”

Mina groans, but silently since they are still in a meeting with the committees for their annual sports day. It’s a miracle to see Jihyo volunteering to help them when she’s so adamant to leave behind her past hectic days as a committee, let alone waking up early on a Saturday like today. It’s also unusual for a vice president like Mina to sit at the back row of the lecture room; she’s only there as an observer. How fitting it is to see the duo laying low at the back and munching on some snacks, ignoring the boring presentation run by the second years. The senior members had decided to let the younger committees to handle the sports day and have a taste of what it feels like to lead. The juniors are going to replace them soon, anyway.

At the thought of that, it struck Mina of how fast the year had passed, her first semester of final year about to end soon. It didn’t occur to her that she will be graduating in a few months, having something else to worry about rather than her final year project or passing her examinations.

She’s going one step closer to adulthood, a scary phase that no one wants to talk about.

“What are you going to do after we graduate?”

Jihyo pops another grape that she smuggled into the meeting inside her mouth, giving weird look to her friend. “We’re in a sports day meeting, Mina. Where the hell did that come from?”

“I’m bored, just answer me.”

“Well, I don’t know. Probably running all over Seoul for auditions and job offers. Not sure if I can make it, though.”

Mina slowly nods, remembering Jihyo’s dream to be a renowned singer in Seoul. It’s such a big dream, but Jihyo has a backup plan in case her main dream couldn’t be attained in the long run; opening a pub in the middle of the city because if the world can’t accept her voice, she would rather sing to an audience of drunken men instead. They have to listen to her voice anyway, sober or not.

“What about you?”

_What about her?_

For the first time in her life, Mina couldn’t find the answer to that simple, three-word question. Growing up, she has always been told to do what she is supposed to do by her parents. There was never once that Mina had been given a choice to choose, of what she likes or what she wants. It’s not that she never voiced out her thoughts, instead she thinks nothing of it and just goes along to her parents’ wishes because they always know what’s best for her.

“I’m not sure.” Her shoulders sagged from her answer; unconvinced. “I mean, my father did mention a few times how I should take over the family business soon.”

Surely her father was jesting; the old man loves to make light conversations in the middle of their family dinner. Now that she said it out loud, perhaps he was actually hinting at her to consider working in his company when she finishes college.

“Ah, that’s nice.” Jihyo ducks her head down to pick on a stuck grape skin between her teeth. “Have you thought about Momo?”

Her forehead knitted together. “Momo?”

“Yeah, you guys are dating. Have you ever thought of your plan together after graduating?”

Somehow, it had slipped her mind to think of their relationship because to be honest, she had never expected to be in a relationship right now. For Mina, there are only three things to worry about in her life; her grades, her image, and her games.

Now that she has an extra priority to think about, she can’t help but to get worried about her future.

“Hey.” Jihyo placed a hand on top of Mina’s, stopping the latter’s impulsive action of picking at her skin. A feat she always does when she’s nervous. Mina flashes an apologetic smile, curling her hands into fists.

“Don’t think too much about it. For now, you just need to worry about a certain blonde trying to reach you in the middle of the meeting.”

“Eh?”

Jihyo tilts her head to Mina’s silent phone on the table, the device flashing Momo’s name. She slides the red icon, before tapping the chat app.

**Miss Penguin:** What’s wrong?

 **FoodRaccoon:** Did you just disconnect my call?

 **Miss Penguin:** I’m in a meeting

 **FoodRaccoon:** RUDE

 **FoodRaccoon:** So the meeting is more important than me?

 **Miss Penguin:** Yes.

 **FoodRaccoon:** TT

 **FoodRaccoon:** Guess I have to abort the plan to kidnap you

 **Miss Penguin:** I agreed to be your girlfriend, not a wingman for your delinquent charade

 **FoodRaccoon:** Are you sure about that, GIRLFRIEND?

 **FoodRaccoon:** The offer still stands

 **Miss Penguin:** …

 **Miss Penguin:** Meet me at the staircase

Mina turns to her friend with a pitiful smile, the girl waving her off instantly.

“Yeah, yeah. Just go to your Momo.” She makes a clicking sound with her tongue, sliding her body down the chair in a weird slouching position for a quick nap. “Tell her she owes me a _bento_ box.”

It’s the weekend but for the seniors, it’s the same as other days. They have replacement and extra classes to attend to and projects to finish before the upcoming final term examination in a few weeks. The week already feels like a rush with so many things to catch up, but here is Mina in the cooking lab, accompanying her blonde girlfriend for her assignment just because the latter needs a hand to taste her dish.

Or perhaps, a tongue, in this case.

“Can’t you ask Sana for this?” She points to her roommate lazily laying her head on the table, her arms acting as pillow as she doodles on her notebook with droopy eyes.

“Can’t. Busy.”

Momo raised her shoulders. “What she said.”

The blonde resumes pouring ingredients into a mixer, while Mina stares at her roommate. It’s weird that the usually chirpy Sana being so out of character at this time of the day. Mina leans closer to the blonde scribbling a few side notes on her recipe. “What’s up with her?”

“Monday blues.”

“But it’s Saturday.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know what Monday blues is on a Saturday.”

She glances to Sana again, the latter jutting her lower lips before blowing raspberries with crossed-eyes. Mina gives her a weird look. “You sure it’s just that?”

Momo halts her writing, letting out a sigh. “Tzuyu ditched her for a morning shift at the restaurant.”

“She’s still brooding about that?”

“It’s not Sana if she’s not making a fuss over nothing.” Momo shrugs before pushing a small bowl of green mass to the unaware squirrel.

“Yah!” Sana shrieks when she accidentally inhaled the substance in the middle of dozing off. “Momo! That’s not nice!”

“You come here to study, Sana. Not drooling on the countertop.”

“But you don’t have to do that! Aish!”

The blonde cackles at the giggling machine jumping out of her seat to ward off the smell before presenting the bowl to the curious Mina. She winced from the strong pungent smell of the green paste, pinching her nose with clear disgust.

“Is that wasabi?”

“You have a keen nose.”

“Everyone will know by the strong smell.” She rolled her eyes at her grinning girlfriend. “What’s with the wasabi though? Aren’t you making bread?”

“You’ll know soon.”

“Don’t listen to her!” Sana warns from her seat. “She’s gonna make you die with her new creation, Mina!”

“Sana, eyes on your notes. You have a quiz after lunch.”

“Oh, damn! Stop distracting me, Mo!”

Momo shoots lasers from her eyes at her annoying childhood friend, the penguin silently giggling beside her. They continue making the bread, with Mina attentively watching the blonde tending to the dough while assisting her to grab some things. She watches in distaste when the chef smeared some of the green paste into the dough, before kneading it to a perfect round ball.

“Are you sure about this?”

They stand together by the counter, observing curiously as the bread is slowly baked inside the oven.

“Not really. That’s why you’re here, though.”

Mina gives a side-glare to the blonde smiling innocently at her. “So I’m your guinea pig now?”

“We had a contract, Miss Penguin.” Momo shrugged, still with that annoying pure smile. “But don’t worry. My creation never makes a person land in an ambulance, as far as I know.”

“How convincing.” Mina deadpanned. “But why wasabi?”

“Oh, it’s just some complicated stuff going on. You’re going to get bored with my scientific rambling and all.”

Mina quirks an eyebrow with arms crossed. “Try me.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” The blonde muttered to herself before turning to face her girlfriend eager to hear her long-ass scientific explanation. “Do you know what will happen if we keep bread past its expiry date?”

“Mold will start growing.”

“Correct. Now, if let’s say, you accidentally eat the bread. You’re going to get a very bad stomachache, but do you know why?”

“Uh, because the mold is poisonous?” Mina shrugs, prompting the blonde to nod.

“Well, that’s partially true. Fungus, or mold, produce very deadly chemical properties called mycotoxine. This poison makes us sick and suffers from stomachache, vomiting, diarrhea, or worse, death. Now, you’re wondering why I’m using wasabi, right?”

Mina nods keenly, finding the topic interesting. Or more like, the _person_ explaining it is interesting.

“Do you realize that wasabi makes your nose irritated rather than burning your tongue like how chili does?” She shook her head. Momo pushes the bowl of wasabi to her, urging Mina to give it a taste. She can feel a slight pungent flavor, but the tang affects more on her palate and nose, causing her to cough and crinkles her nose. “That’s the defense mechanism formed by the plant, called allyl isothiocyanate.”

“A what, now?”

“It’s AITC for short, responsible for the pungent taste and also for making your eyes teary and stings your nose. It might sound harmful and annoying, but believe it or not, this AITC has antibacterial properties. It might be the secret to fight those molds from growing on the bread, and that’s what I’m trying to achieve here. Taste-wise, I’m going for an umami-flavored bread instead of a spicy one, so I’m working on that right now. That’s why I need your help to taste it, Mitang.”

Somewhere in the middle of her explanation, Mina got lost in Momo’s pair of gentle eyes, that is until her name was mentioned. There’s something attractive about Momo when she’s being serious and deep in her element. The girl might complaint a lot about her incompetency with the course she takes, but she’s actually good with her stuff when she really put her mind into it. Mina admits something today; seeing her girlfriend being professional and serious with cooking is definitely hot.

“You seem to really put a lot of thought into this recipe.”

“It’s for my final year project.” She sheepishly rubs her nape. “It’s thanks to Tzuyu, too. She suggested making bread that can last longer without using a refrigerator. I was imagining one with longer shelf-life because that girl eats bread like we eat rice. Sadly, the ones in the cafeteria taste like cardboard while the _konbini_ bread across the street costs more than _onigiri_.”

“Their melon _pan_ is the best though.”

Momo’s face contorts in dislike, getting a _merong_ from Mina.

“Why do I hear my Chewy’s name coming from you?” Sana intervenes with an accusing glare directed to the two. “You dare talk about her behind my back, huh?”

“Technically, we’re right in front of you.” Momo retorts, before the two engaged in a war of cussing in _Kansai-ben_ , with Mina shaking her head in exasperation as she’s stuck in between them.

She is the one who notices the small penguin alarm ringing by the oven, notifying them the bread is ready to be taken out. Ignoring the two, she wears a glove with penguin characters – she wonders if everything penguin-related was just coincidence or Momo is really obsessed with the animal – as she takes out the freshly-baked bread.

The first thing she noted was the smell wafting from the bread; there isn’t a hint of wasabi at all. But most of all, it looks like a normal table bread.

“It’s done?” Momo’s head appeared on her left shoulder, while Sana emerged on her right. They take a deep breath, taking in the wonderful smell of freshly-baked loaf with pure bliss.

“No wonder Tzuyu likes bread a lot.” Sana uttered as the blonde takes a knife and cut a few pieces from the loaf. The look of awe on Mina and Sana makes the chef puffs her chest with pride, happy that her effort can bring such reaction.

“So, who wants a taste?”

Their expressions immediately morphed from bliss to horrified. Suddenly, the door of the cooking lab is pushed open by two juniors who walk in uninvited like it’s a normal thing.

“Yo, Momo-unnie!” The tofu girl greets the blonde, only to be surprised at the presence of the other seniors. “Oh! You _unnies_ are here, too!”

Unlike the well-mannered Dahyun, the other was unfazed with their presence, her eyes already stuck on the loaf of bread waiting on the counter, hypnotized by its smell alone.

“Oh, bread!”

Without warning, the she grabs a piece and takes a bite, unaware of the worried glances thrown her way. She munches slowly, before a dimpled smile appeared on her face.

“Delicious!” She stated as she turns to the blonde. “You made this, unnie?”

“Ah, yeah…” Momo answered, still wary of the girl’s reaction. “Is it good, Tzuyu-ah? Like, seriously good?”

“Mm!” She takes another bite. “It tasted different, like slightly spicy? Savory, I think? But it’s really good!”

Mina takes a piece from the table, tearing a small bit for a taste. Her eyes widen in surprise; there’s only a mild taste of the pungent wasabi, making it hard to notice it’s being used in the first place. She might like this flavor better than any other plain bread she had ever tasted. The others soon followed and their reactions mirrored the vice president, clearly shocked by the new taste. Momo lets out a relieved sigh, having passed the taste evaluation. Now, she only needs to test the shelf-life of the bread in room temperature to make the recipe a successful one.

In the middle of their bread feasting, Sana begins latching herself to the _maknae_ who has her focus solely on the bread in her hand. She flutters her eyelashes to the tall girl to get her attention, but Tzuyu seems unbothered with her girlfriend’s advances, too wrapped up with chewing the bread in her mouth.

“Chewy, aren’t you supposed to be working right now?”

“My shift just ended.” She pops another piece into her mouth.

“Oh, really? Then, that means we can hang out together right now.”

Tzuyu frowns at the older girl. “No, we can’t.”

“Eh? Why not?”

“You have a quiz later, unnie. Besides, I have to go somewhere with Dahyun and Momo-unnie, too.”

“What?” Sana gasped at the information. “Yah! You can hang out with them but not me? That’s unfair, Chewy!”

Tzuyu scratches her head in confusion as Sana starts whining and making noises with her nasal voice. It’s a cute sight to see, but not in front of these people. She gently pushes Sana away, eyes looking everywhere except the latter.

“But I have a special meeting tonight. It’s at the ice cream place.”

To others, Tzuyu may have given her girlfriend an excuse; a weird one that doesn’t makes sense. But for Sana, it’s a hint of some sort, one she had learned by chance when Tzuyu is too shy to ask her out in public. Her eyes sparkled from the awkward but subtle invitation for an ice cream date tonight.

“You do?”

“Yeah, it’s really important – wouldn’t dare to miss it.” Tzuyu gives her a shy smile, making the older grin like a love-struck idiot. “You should go, unnie. You’re going to be late for the quiz.”

“Okay, Chewy. Fighting!” Sana makes a cheering pose and a flying kiss, before linking her arm with Mina, the latter caught surprised by the action. Momo reminds the confused penguin about her afternoon replacement class, bidding them goodbye before turning her attention to the juniors waiting obediently behind her.

She pulls out her car keys, the girls’ eyes glittering as she sways them playfully with a smirk.

“So, who’s driving?”

*

Mina was surprised to see Momo waiting on a bench outside the entrance of the building when her meeting for the week had finished. The blonde was rubbing her hands to fight off the cold night, only to jump on her feet when she saw Mina. They exchanged smiles, Momo gladly taking her bag before offering her hand for Mina to take. The latter lowers her head to hide the blush on her cheeks, scooting closer to her girlfriend to share warmth with her. When asked why she’s here, Momo made an excuse that she’s itching for some fresh air after hours of rolling around in her room doing nothing, when in fact she’s missing the other’s presence from the busy week they had.

They shared small talks along the way, about the progress of Mina’s charity gala, of Momo’s blunder in the kitchen which resulted in her hair almost caught on fire. Mina freaked out, but the blonde assures her that she’s fine, the accident happened because she was lost in thought about her girlfriend. She received glaring daggers from the vice president, but the threat was considered futile when Momo teased her tomato face as a comeback.

They made a stop at the parking lot, Momo wants to check her car for the ‘injury’ it suffers. She can’t believe Dahyun managed to put a dent on the bumper of her second-hand car when they went out to the mall last week. It wasn’t entirely the tofu’s fault, a car suddenly appeared from the corner as she’s reversing out from the parking space. Out of shock, the car ended up hitting the streetlight instead. Thankfully no one was hurt. Dahyun had whined all night in her traumatized state, saying the car brings her bad luck just by its appearance alone.

“Is it really that bad?” Momo asked the penguin about her car’s appearance with a frown.

“It’s,” Mina did a quick look-over, the compact car looks quite old as compared to hers. “It looks drive-able, I guess.”

The frown deepens, Mina flashing an apologetic look. Momo crouches beside the bumper, inspecting the dent while Mina holds her phone to provide light to the mechanic-wannabe. Momo takes a sticker out of her pocket before pasting it on top of the dented spot. She grins proudly at the instant paint job she had done; the peeled out paint is covered with a Piplup sticker.

“I did a great job, right?”

“Seriously, a Piplup?”

“It looks like a penguin.” She turns to Mina with a grin. “Just like you.”

“This is the first time I’ve ever seen someone did this.” Mina commented on the car, obviously trying to stop herself from smiling at the endearing sight.

“Are you for real? Did you live in outer space or something? This is a common thing to do in my household.”

“Yeah, and you are one weird person I’ve ever met.”

“What did you say?”

“I said what I said.”

Momo narrows her eyes while the penguin shrugs, before turning on her heel and dashes off. The blonde laughs before chasing after her girlfriend who expertly slips herself in between cars to avoid her girlfriend, the vacant place filled with their squeals and laughter. Unfortunately, the dancer is fast on her feet as she successfully tackles them to the ground of wet grass.

“Gotcha!”

The blonde laughs as she lands on top of her girlfriend, only to realize the compromising position they’re in. She can feel Mina’s labored breath on her face, the distant separating their faces were only mere inches away. Her face alone makes the blonde breathless. Her eyes fall on Mina’s slightly open mouth as the girl pants for oxygen; she wonders if Mina feels the same. Momo’s breath hitched when those pair of soft plump lips closed, an audible gulp came from the girl trapped under.

Plucking up the remaining courage in herself, Momo slowly dives in. She watches warily as Mina’s eyes fluttered close, an action she regards as consent. She closes in, the thudding of her heart deafening her ears, only to hear a groggy shout from the vicinity.

“Hey! No frolicking in the parking space!”

The girls panicked, avoiding the torch flashing on them. Momo quickly pulls Mina to stand before running away, hand in hand. They hide behind a secluded car on a dark corner, knowing the guard is too old to catch up with them. They can hear the footsteps getting closer, before it stopped.

“Damn horny kids...”

Momo peeks from under the car, the guard is walking away from them. She lets out a relieved sigh, only to be met with a shaking Mina muffling her laughter. She soon joins in, the couple giggling their hearts out from almost getting caught.

Their foreheads meet in the middle of their laughing fit, and Momo wants nothing more than to continue their disturbed moment earlier. That is, if only the universe wouldn’t be such a cockblock to them. The moment is ruined again when Momo’s phone starts ringing. She lets out a soft groan, prying the annoying, vibrating device from her pocket.

“It’s my alarm.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“I have a bad sense of timing.”

Mina snorts as she snatched Momo’s phone away. She switched it off, before slipping the device into her bag to stop anymore disturbances to happen. The blonde shyly scratches her cheek as she leans closer to the penguin. “So, uh… should we continue?”

Mina hides her smirk, putting on her stoic face just to mess with the blushing girl. “What?”

“Well, what we were doing earlier?”

“Running from the guard?”

“No! I mean- ugh… nevermind.”

Just as she pulls away, a kiss landed on her cheek. It lasts a second longer than Mina’s usual peck, but it already made a mess out of Momo. 

“You can get more than this.” She bops the red nose of the flabbergasted raccoon with a finger. “But you’ve got to earn it.”

Momo was abruptly pushed to the ground as Mina gets on her feet and runs away, again. They end up in another tagging game, their legs unconsciously leading them back to Mina’s dorm. Before Mina could unlock her door, the blonde stops her.

“Wait, you said Tzuyu is inside with Sana right?”

“Yeah. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, so many things are bound to go wrong if you leave those two together.”

Mina snorted. “I doubt it. Tzuyu is still as pure as a paper –”

Just in cue, they heard noises coming from inside. The couple exchanged looks, their faces red from the notion that something definitely wrong _is_ indeed happening inside.

“No way.”

“Damn, that Sana–”

Without wasting time, Mina unlocks the door and thrust it open. They stumbled inside in hurry, only to find the room dark. The only source of light is coming from Sana’s bed, illuminating the two girls huddled together under a blanket, shock apparent on their face from the ruckus.

“Yah! Can’t you enter like civilized people?” Sana chided with a relieved sigh while Tzuyu rubs her hammering chest. “We were almost shocked to death!”

“We would, if you guys weren’t doing something scandalized in here!” Momo accused them with a pointed finger, earning confusing looks from the two suspects.

“Scandalized? What are you talking about?”

“Tell me the truth! You were about to taint Tzuyu’s pure mind with something,” Momo paused, trying to find the right, proper word to say. “Well, something tainting, I guess. Am I right?”

“Eh?” Sana gives her childhood friend an incredulous look. “We were watching Animal Planet!”

“A-Animal Planet?”

“Yeah.” Tzuyu butted in, her face as innocent as ever. “It’s a 3-hours special documentary about snake.”

“Uh, why snake?”

“Because Sanake.”

“What?”

“Shh! It’s coming to the best part!” Sana glares at them before resuming their movie night in silence, some eerie and weird sounds coming from the laptop.

“Okay, enjoy your movie.” Momo murmurs while shuddering at the thought.

The blonde doesn’t stay for long, not wanting to disturb the penguin’s well–deserved rest since she had a rough week. Also because she’s too creeped out by the other couple in the room, fascinated with watching multiple male anacondas mating to death on a female queen.

Mina feels her chest swelling from Momo’s considerate action, telling her to take a warm bath and sleep early for a breakfast together tomorrow. Before the blonde could leave, she pulls her by the arm, leaving a kiss on her cheek. She whispered a quiet good night before shoving Momo towards the staircase and quickly shuts the door. She puts a hand on top of her heart to stop it from bursting out of her chest.

It’s surreal for her, to feel this elated and over the moon just from a person. Maybe because that person is Hirai Momo, the one who managed to slip her way into the depth of her well-guarded heart. She hopes it will stay like that, that they will stay like that together, perhaps not forever, but for a long time.

As she rummages through her bag for her phone, she found Momo’s instead. _Shoot, she’s going to need this._ Before she can leave the room, Sana calls for her.

“Where are you going?”

“Momo left her phone.” She raised the gadget. “I might catch up with her if I’m fast.”

“Alone? Nuh uh, not on my watch.” Sana comes out of their cocoon of blanket, but Mina quickly refutes. “Sana, you don’t have to. I don’t want to disturb your movie night.”

“It’s fine, unnie.” Tzuyu followed her girlfriend out of the bed, already wearing her shoes. “We were actually craving for ice cream, might as well walk with you.”

Mina is grateful to have them walk with her because it’s almost midnight, only a few students can be seen lounging under the streetlight of their dorm area taking a puff or talking on the phone privately. After reaching Momo’s building, the girls left Mina and continue their destination to the convenience store, not before making a short agreement that they will pick her up again for their walk back.

She reaches Momo’s room and took out her phone to inform her arrival, only to remember the main reason she’s there in the first place. A few steps from reaching Momo’s door, she heard a crash sound followed by muffled voice. Her forehead creases, wondering what’s going on. She rushes to the room and knocks on the door, a bit louder than usual.

There’s a nagging feeling at the back of her head that tells her to turn around and leave, that Momo can live without a phone for the night. But it was too late when she heard a high pitched voice of another person inside.

“Hey, no! Cut it off!”

Her breath stopped.

“Whyyy? You said we are going to have an amazing night together, right?”

A pang strikes her chest.

“Ugh, I’m not–“

“Come on, you made a promise we’ll meet tonight!”

Her whole body trembles, as if ice cold water was poured over her.

The door finally opens, and she was met with a blanched out Momo. She feels a surge of anger when a familiar face clings on her girlfriend’s back, only clad in a sports bra while puckering her lips for a kiss.

“M-Mina? What are you doing–”

“Here.” She almost hurl the phone towards its owner, the blonde barely caught it in her staggered state. “Sorry to disturb your supposedly ‘amazing night’ together.”

She leaves in a rush, despite the trembles and shivers coursing through her body. She can’t feel anything, except for the tears running down her face. She tried to forget the face, but the image had already burned in her head.

Sana and Tzuyu was shocked to see Mina hunched on the ground, silently sobbing with tears streaming down her face. They quickly rushed to her side, Sana pulling her crying bestfriend into her arms. Despite knowing it’s not her business, Tzuyu still asked what happened but only one word came out of Mina’s trembling mouth.

_Nayeon._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this is indeed the longest chapter I've written. Since it's going to be the last chapter for this year, I hope it makes up for the long wait. Do know that I'm currently kneeling for forgiveness for the sad ending TT It's going to be tears-inducing ride in upcoming chapters so do buckle up! 
> 
> Fun fact: Did you know the Rose of Korea is also known as the Rose of Sharon in other countries? Hehehe how fitting, isn't it?
> 
> Until then, take care, stay safe and don't forget to drink water! 
> 
> Thank you for reading, writing comments, giving kudos and subscribing to this humble fic of mine! I really appreciate that a lot ^^


	6. Falling into pieces

In college, Momo doesn’t only learn about academics, but she also learned lessons about life. One most prominent was the incident that happened on her second year. She once heard a saying, that rumors are more exciting than the truth. And that was what she indulged herself into as a naïve teenage-turning-adult girl, listening to rumors by her classmates and club members, just because it was a fun thing to do.

But it wasn’t so when that particular day happened.

_The first time she met Tzuyu, there’s no such thing as “hello, good morning sunbae” or a back-breaking deep bow. She already heard some “things” about Chou Tzuyu, the freshman with an attitude that screams bad all over. A cold arrogant chick, a snobbish foreigner, a teacher’s pet wannabe, you name it. When the tall girl was introduced as a replacement for a staff in the restaurant, Momo paid her no heed._

_“She can fare well on her own. She speaks Korean, right?” Momo nonchalantly said as an excuse when Shindong requested Momo to be the girl’s mentor._

_He was dumbfounded with the cold greeting, expecting the blonde to be the good senior she usually is to guide Tzuyu in terms of working, as well as fellow college students. Indeed, Momo can see the foreign transferee adapting well with the kitchen chores within a week with the help of others. In fact, she was rendered confused when everyone seems to get along well with the new girl. But not wanting to associate herself with the rumored freshman, she decided to mind her own business._

_Until one evening after her dance meeting, when she found a group of students at the back of the building circling around a tall girl. She realized soon that it was Tzuyu, glaring down at the group with her cold stare. Her gut feeling tells her to go there and see what’s going on, but her mind screams for her to turn away and ignore them because she didn’t want to get in any more trouble than it is._

_It’s tiring enough that she was already labeled as a troublemaker by her classmates when she was just an innocent bystander for that little prank went wrong. She did what she thought was best, for her, and leave._

_That is, until Nayeon brought up about the kid when she got back late that night._

_“She was badly injured when I found her.” Nayeon grimly said while taking off her jacket. “Thank god I passed by the building that time.”_

_It didn’t sit well with Momo knowing the girl was harmed by the group when she could prevent that from happen. But it’s not her problem that the first year is prone to be the target of violence from those people… right?_

_“You guys work at the same place, right? I think she needs to rest for a few days so can you inform Shindong-oppa about it?”_

_Momo watched with furrowed eyebrows as if the senior was telling her the most incredulous thing she had ever heard. She wasn’t even on speaking terms with Tzuyu so how the hell Nayeon knows about the freshman working with her?_

_Probably sensing her confusion, Nayeon let out a snort. “She greets me a few times when I had my late after-class dinner at the restaurant. Funny how you never mentioned about her though, knowing how much you both resembled each other, coming from another country and all…”_

_Momo quickly cut the older off, not liking the implication she shared with the freshman. “Why are you so concerned about her?”_

_“Why not?” Nayeon raised an eyebrow, before her face softens with a warm smile. “Everyone deserves a little bit of kindness in their life, don’t you think?”_

_That struck something within Momo._

_It was only then that she realized how awful she had been to the new kid without any reason to. Momo had stoop so low just because of some baseless rumors, when she knows fully well she can do better than that. That Chou girl deserves so much more than what people said about her. She thanked Nayeon before going to sleep, the senior laughing at her abruptness before turning off the lights._

_It took less than a week when she saw Tzuyu again, but the situation was worse this time. With her still bandaged hand and split lip, the girl was once again involved in another fight. There was already a crowd surrounding the scene, some holding up their phones to record the amusing scene while others howling out inappropriate reactions to the fight. Momo didn’t want to be in the receiving end of the punches and possible suspension by the dean, but Nayeon’s words were ringing in her ears._

_“Everyone deserves a little bit of kindness in their life, don’t you think?”_

_Thankfully, the fight didn’t end with them riding the ambulance straight to the ER. Momo didn’t suffer anything less than a bruised shoulder and arm, but Tzuyu had it worse. She was seen limping on her left leg with more scratches decorating her pretty face as they were ushered to the disciplinary room. In the middle of interrogation by the counselor, a small girl rushes inside and points to the aggressor who started everything._

_“Miss Jo, Tzuyu is innocent! She was actually defending me against the group of seniors.”_

_After a more detailed explanation by the victim of bullying named Son Chaeyoung, Momo and Tzuyu were dismissed just an hour after lunch break, both of them were told to go back and reflect on their actions for the day._

_Momo turns to the limping girl, feeling bad with her already injured condition. She can feel her stomach growling for food; the girl must be too._

_“Tzuyu, right?”_

_The first year raised her head, before giving a slow hesitant nod. “Yes, sunbae.”_

_Momo smiled, not expecting a polite and timid answer coming from the rumored freshman with bitchy attitude._

_“Are you alright?”_

_Tzuyu shrugs, touching her face with a wince before a strained smile appeared on her face. “Nothing I can’t manage.”_

_Momo responded with a nod before leading them to an empty bench on the courtyard outside the academic building. She inspects Tzuyu’s injuries, finding nothing serious than a few scratches and bruises. She noticed a small wound with dried blood on Tzuyu’s knee that needs proper care._

_“Wait here. I’m going to get something for that wound.”_

_She ran to the college mart, finding everything she needs inside along with some food to satiate their hunger. She tends to Tzuyu’s injury with her basic knowledge of first aid, satisfied with the small patch up she did. Rummaging through the plastic bag, Momo drops a packed lunch on the girl’s lap while she takes a seat beside her, a packet of cream-filled croissant on her hand. She didn’t have enough money to buy a proper meal; the bread would suffice for now. She can bribe Nayeon for a dinner treat later._

_As she was about to tear open the packet, she realized the tall girl eyeing her intently._

_“What?”_

_“I don’t feel like eating.”_

_She raised the packed lunch and passes it back to Momo. Rolling her eyes, the blonde was about to give the first year an earful of scolding but the latter soon points a finger to her bread._

_“Can I have that instead, sunbae?”_

_Momo blinked a few times, before a chuckle bubbled up her throat. She happily exchanged their late lunch, at the same time exchanging pleasantries with one another. Tzuyu wasn’t that bad after all, she admits. It only takes a bit of kindness to see the tall girl in a different light, and Momo was really glad she took that opportunity._

That time, she learned that believing rumors is nothing more than a waste of time and effort. There is always two side of the story, just like how Tzuyu has a poker face by nature but is actually quite timid, or how she was so blunt in talking because she still has difficulty with some Korean words which caused her to have some riffs with the seniors, or how she was actually protecting Chaeyoung from the senior who decided it’s fun to mess with the newcomers because of their gullibility.

Similar to the misunderstanding that happened that night Mina came knocking to her room with Nayeon practically wrapped over her body.

She takes a deep breath from the memory. Now that she’s the one on the receiving end, Momo doesn’t know what to feel about it, especially when it’s affecting her relationship with Mina that was just beginning to bloom.

She checks her phone again for the nth time that day, the messages she sent still showing a single tick. She’s still being blocked by Mina and she can’t find other means to contact her other than making her presence known to the vice president. So here she is waiting outside the SC room, peeking through the small slit of the window to find Mina’s presence inside.

What she saw made her stomach lurched.

She can clearly see Mina’s side-profile from her position, but she didn’t expect to see her laughing. It seems like Johnny was saying something funny that makes her girl laugh in amusement. Her whole body sags from the sight, chest clenching an odd sensation that makes her want to lash out.

Her eyes widen when everyone finally stand on their feet, the door swinging open as people leave one by one. She slips herself inside, only to be met with a wide-eyed Johnny. She was about to barged through him but the guy quickly grabs her arm and pulls her outside.

“What the heck –”

“If you’re here to see Mina, save it.”

“Who are you to stop me from seeing Mina?”

Momo was about to push him away but the look on Johnny’s face screams terrified and he is a bit paler than the usual. He drags the hesitant Momo to a corner, eyes warily watching behind him.

“Listen.” He holds her shoulder with quivering eyes. “You’re not gonna get anything by barging in like a mad man so might as well calm your ass down first.”

Momo gives him an incredulous look. “Why are you being–”

“Kind?” His forehead scrunched up, obviously disgusted with the thought. “Dude, I’m trying to save your ass here!”

“What do you mean?”

“Mina was bitching me – damn, she was bitching all of us just now!”

“Hey, language!” Momo scolded, which managed to calm down the freaked out president. “What are you talking about anyway? I clearly saw her laughing at your jokes just now.”

“Laughing? Yeah, she’s laughing like a psycho! Can’t you see her eyes shooting lasers with that creepy laugh?” He slightly shivered while shaking his head like a junkie under influence. “She’s creeping me out, man!”

“You’re seriously overreacting right now.”

“I don’t care the shit you said to me, but whatever happens between you and Mina, it has to be settled ASAP! It’s seriously affecting everyone’s mood, Hirai! We’re at the mercy of her sane mind, damn it!”

Suddenly, Momo felt a menacing presence on her back. She sees how Johnny’s expression morphed into a horrified one, with droplets of cold sweat appearing on his forehead. She turns around, only to gulp in fear. It was the sharpest glare she had ever seen coming from her Mina. Her sweet, demure and adorable Mina. Just as she had mustered some courage to talk to her, the girl had turned on her heels and marched away from them.

Being blatantly ignored hurts, but what makes it more heartbreaking was the way Mina avoids her eyes, as if she wasn’t there in the first place.

*

Momo finds Mina again by a table on the courtyard. But she is not alone this time; Sana is talking to her while Tzuyu attentively listen with an open book on her lap. The blonde makes long strides towards them, catching Sana’s attention who immediately gave her a deep scowl. Figures, of course she will take Mina’s side in this situation. As she approaches them, Tzuyu stood up and block Momo from nearing the table. The blonde tries to wiggle her way around but the firm clutch on her shoulder makes it impossible. 

“Unnie, stop.”

Momo looks up, slightly annoyed, before stepping aside and ignoring the tall giant. Tzuyu shakes her head as she mutters a small apology and forcefully drags the senior away with her brute strength. She disregards Momo’s whining and protest, practically hauling the blonde raccoon to a large tree near the parking lot.

She pushes Momo to sit, the girl fall on her bum with a loud groan.

“What happened?”

“Nothing happen.” Momo avoids Tzuyu’s questioning gaze, only to hear a sigh, a disappointed one, coming from the younger.

“I don’t like liars, unnie.”

Momo squeezed her eyes shut, her lips making a line. “It’s just a misunderstanding, okay? Look, if you would only let me talk to Mina-”

“No. I’m not letting you leave until you tell me what happened.”

Her eyes finally fell on Tzuyu, the usually poker face feigns a worried expression. Momo takes a deep breath. “It’s just something stupid.”

“Mina-unnie wouldn’t be this upset because of just something stupid. You know her more than I do.”

Momo dips her head low, avoiding Tzuyu's concerned eyes. Of course it’s nothing stupid, but she can’t seem to tell Tzuyu that it was all a misunderstanding. A really big, stupid misunderstanding on her part. 

She heard the younger sigh, “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk. But you should give Mina-unnie some space right now.”

“No!” She exclaimed, catching Tzuyu surprised. “I need to talk to her! Please, Tzuyu-ah...”

Momo knows the more she prolongs this problem, the harder for her to mend back what had cracked between them. Just like a small fracture of a glass, slowly spreading with more pressure to form cracks, later breaking to pieces. She needs to lift the pressure, and she needs to do it fast before one of them breaks and suffer the consequences.

“Momo-unnie? Hold on, where are you–”

She runs away before Tzuyu could stop her, before Mina slips away from her again. She needs to explain everything to Mina because that’s all that matters.

Mina is the only one that matters.

*

Momo doesn’t want to admit it, but when she’s in trouble or stressed out of her mind, there’s only one person to go to; the giggling machine, also known as her childhood friend. Also, unwillingly, the only best friend she has since they were kids. She might claimed that Sana was the one following her around all the time, even to the extent of travelling to South Korea together, but the truth was far from that.

When Sana showed up at her room with a pamphlet of her selected college, Momo was utterly shocked. She never expected the clingy girl to choose a place out of their hometown, let alone in another country. Momo really believed Sana had hit her head really hard when she fell down the stairs of the stage during their high school graduation day, prompting the girl to make the rash decision without her say.

Unexpectedly, when Sana asked her to join with her adventurous escapade of studying while travelling, the blonde agreed without a beat. She reasoned to her parents that Sana’s prone to accidents and is directionally-challenged, while Momo will have better exposure in her course after deciding to follow her grandmother’s advice. There might be the slightest chance that Momo does in fact felt lonely and sad after the news was brought up to her, but there’s no way she will admit it directly to Sana.

_“Aww, you love me too much to be separated from me.” Sana mimicked a crying face, the blonde responded with a disgusted look._

_“Who? Me?” Momo scoffed. “I was over the moon when you told me you’re going away to South Korea.”_

_Sana made a sound that seems too annoying for Momo’s liking, before giggling happily and pulling the reluctant blonde into a crushing hug._

_“Let’s have each other’s back this time too, okay?”_

_Momo glanced up to Sana’s expectant face, slowly nodding with a low mumble. “As always.”_

She might not admit it, but Momo really need Sana right now. She’s the only one that can talk some sense into Mina, considering they know each other well enough to share secrets and Momo’s embarrassing moments as bedtime story. So here she is speed-walking down the hallway of the faculty of communication to find the shiba inu. Sana’s class has already ended by now, she hoped she can catch her before the girl disappears to her favourite past time activities, whatever that is.

Her face lit up when she spot Sana leaning by the locker, talking to someone that looks fairly well like Dahyun. Her steps slowed when she notice the blush covering Dahyun’s fair complexion, her bestfriend being rather affectionate with her flirty grin. Momo knows that sheepish look; Dahyun is still infatuated with Sana. Her eyes widen when out of nowhere, Sana plants a kiss on Dahyun’s cheek which lasted longer than the usual friendly one she used to give them.

She increased her pace when the junior turns around, leaving Sana smiling to herself. It’s not her business, but she feels the need to confront Sana about it before another damage is done. Without warning, Momo yanks her towards a secluded area, away from curious eyes.

“Oww- Yah, what the hell?!” Sana exclaimed after she was released, rubbing her wrist that was gripped with a bit too much force.

But Momo doesn’t apologize; she went straight to the point with hushed whisper and a deep scowl. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Me?” Sana gives her an incredulous look, “Can you be a little more specific? You suddenly appear out of nowhere and drag me here without even a hello, and suddenly I was asked what I’m doing right now?” She shakes her head in disbelief. “What is wrong with you?”

The blonde ignores Sana’s lengthy chide, her glare hardening. “Why are you flirting with Dahyun?”

Sana’s mouth was agape, her eyebrows knitted together. “Flirting? I’m just hanging out with my friend, Momo. How can you call that flirting?”

“I saw you kissed her!”

“On the cheek, Mo! Damn it, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“Everything is wrong!”

Momo’s voice raised a note, causing her childhood friend to flinch. The blonde was never one to lose her calm, always the level-headed one among them so when Momo got mad, it means she’s really upset. Seeing her friend’s stunned expression, Momo released a deep huff.

“Look, you shouldn’t hang out with Dahyun.”

“Ehh?” Her forehead furrowed deeper. “What do you mean I shouldn’t hang out with Dahyun?”

“It’s for your own good. Believe me, Sana.”

“You want me to believe you?” Momo nodded from Sana’s questioning gaze, only for the latter to let out a scoff. “Should I believe you about that night too? About what happened between you and Mina?”

“Hey, this isn’t about Mina and me!”

“Oh yeah? Did you know that ever since your fight with Mina, she’s been cooped in her room crying all night? I tried so hard to get her to talk, only to know you cheated on her with Nayeon!” Momo winced from the raised voice, her jaw gritting as she tried to stop herself from lashing back. “How could you do this, Momo? You’re not only betraying Mina but you’re betraying me!”

“That was just –”

“A misunderstanding? Yeah, a typical excuse of a sore loser.” She thrust a finger on Momo’s chest, causing the blonde to stumble backwards. “I’ve lost you, my partner for life, who was supposed to be around when I need someone. I even lost Tzuyu who, hell, always out of reach these days. I only have Dahyun, my bestfriend, who willingly listen to my rants, and suddenly you want me to stay away from her, for my own good?”

Sana shakes her head when Momo ducks her head in guilt, her flaring red eyes staring down the blonde with so much disappointment.

“Move aside.”

“Sana, it’s not what –”

“Drop it. I don’t want to hear anymore excuses from you so move!”

Their shoulders bumped, making Momo flinched to the side as Sana stomps away, heels clacking furiously on the tiled floor. Momo gripped her fists tight, trying to stop the green monster from erupting. Instead, she yells the one thing she shouldn’t have.

“Dahyun has feelings for you!”

The sound of clacking stopped. Sana turns to the blonde with teary eyes, her lips tightly pressed together. With a slight shake of her head, she spat to the blonde in resentment.

“ふざけんな!” [Screw you!]

*

Her meeting with Sana didn’t go well, and her determination dropped so drastically, she loses her will to continue. It didn’t help when another blunder popped up in the form of a warning letter by the faculty.

A warning letter for her absenteeism.

It’s been a few days since she became the frequent visitor of the library. No, she’s not here to study or to make up for the skipped classes. In fact, it was far from it. She feels like it is the best place to hide and be by herself, being the number one spot for students to avoid except during examination week. She’s sitting on the carpeted floor at the back section with rows of encyclopedias, away from any humans presence or source of light as she hid herself in the dim corner. Her favorite hiding spot for an afternoon nap or evening snack.

She blankly stared at the crumpled red paper in her hand, eyes staring blankly on the big bold wordings. The letter gradually slipped from her fingers, falling unceremoniously on the floor between her feet, along with her will to continue fighting. Fighting to survive in this college, fighting for her falling grades, fighting for her internship spot in that restaurant, fighting for her trust from a friend, but most of all, fighting for her love for Mina.

Or was it the other way? Yes, she doesn’t know her priorities anymore.

She feels like the whole world is mocking her, disappointed with the way she’s handling things, or handling herself. Rather than solving her problems, she chose to run away, hiding behind the rows of books that seem to be the cause of her miseries. Sana was her last hope to rekindle with Mina, but it seems the universe had decided to put a break on her streak of good fortune.

Momo leans her head back on the shelf, taking a deep breath to clear away the dark clouds floating above her head. But she feels more suffocated, as if a weight is pressing down on her chest when she realized her current fate as a failing, probably barred student.

She had thought of it many times before, of dropping out of college and spares the torture of attending early morning classes or even read a page of that thick physiology book. She would have fared well just working at a restaurant somewhere in town, renting a small room in a worn down apartment and eating stale instant noodles every day. Being a porter at a high-end restaurant would suffice too, Momo can get used to be ordered around, at least until she has enough money to buy a ticket back to Japan.

That is, if she can handle the wrath of being cursed by her grandmother’s wandering soul and her parents’ high hopes to see their only daughter getting the scroll of their dream.

She lets out a snort; how pathetic she is right now as she laments on her pitiful, hopeless state. She takes out her phone, receiving a text from one of her classmates asking for her whereabouts. Of course she would skip the on-going class, because there’s nothing else she can fight for when her bleak future is already laid before her eyes in the form of total failure. Let’s be real, though. Who cares about a freaking class when she has a freaking heartbreak right now?

Her thumb unconsciously pressed on the gallery app, a sole picture of Mina popping up on the screen. She stares at the pixilated picture with a lop-sided smile, the only picture she has of the vice president that she ~~stole~~ saved after their first chat session. She was elated that day to see the display picture, indicating that Mina had saved her contact. Thank god she decided to screenshot it too, because her number was blocked by the penguin after that night. They didn’t have the chance to take a selca or a picture together because Mina is allergic to camera, much to Momo’s chagrin. Even with the inexcusable quality of a picture, Mina still appears breathless and perfect. She's contented enough to feel Mina's presence with her during the times she misses the penguin.

Apparently, she’s missing her with every breath she takes, and that’s just cruel for a girl who just barely had to experience love for the first time in her life. 

“That’s cute.”

Momo whips her head to the voice, a grinning Jihyo peeking at her phone screen. The latter raised her head, only to muffle a laugh from Momo’s pale and shocked expression. The blonde gave her an offended look, her chest heaving from Jihyo’s sudden appearance.

“It’s just me, okay? Not a ghost.”

“Thank you for clearing that up for me.” Momo rubs a hand over her face to rid off the fright brought by the wide-eyed Thomas who had miraculously appeared by her side.

“How long have you been here?”

“Long enough to read through your warning letter.”

Momo gives a betrayed look to the shrugging girl who took the abandoned paper by her feet, giving it another read before sighing heavily. Momo snatched the letter, folding it without a care before shoving it inside her sling bag.

“What are you doing here?”

“Have you seen Tzuyu? She’s been skipping on our tutoring lesson.”

“No.” Momo raised her shoulders in disinterest. She had cut contact with everyone, not in the mood to have interaction with anything human. She heard a long hum coming from the girl, before silence envelope them. Momo feels movement beside her, glancing at her side to see Jihyo stretching her legs outwards to get comfortable.

“How are you holding up?”

“Just peachy.”

“Like your name?” The blonde snorts, a grin appearing on Jihyo’s face.

“You’re gonna roast me too?”

“Why?”

Momo swallowed her spit, the name barely came out in a whisper. “Because of Mina…”

Another hum, but it was more of a questioning tone. Rustling sound of plastic filled the quiet place, a small packet of gummies appeared on Jihyo’s lap.

“I don’t know what happen between you two, so I’m not sure what to say.” The packet was ripped open with a small pop. “But there’s always a second chance in everything.”

Momo scrunched her forehead, “Why?”

“What?”

“Everyone’s avoiding me since I’m the bad guy, and you’re like Mina’s mother Teresa who guards her all the time. Aren’t you gonna say I’m at fault too?” A pained smile etched on her face, her voice struggled to sound nonchalant when it's obviosly breaking.

“I’m not one to judge people easily.” She put the snack on Momo’s lap, a gentle smile etched on her face. “But I believe both of you deserve an explanation.”

Jihyo gives a few pat of encouragement to the blonde, using her shoulder as a leverage to stand up. She walks away, leaving Momo baffled to her words. She suddenly turns around with both hands covering her mouth.

“I’m still a MiMo shipper so, fighting!” It was suppsoed to be a whisper, but it sounded like a normal speaking voice of Jihyo, earning the latter a warning hush from one of the nerd students.

It took a minute for Jihyo’s words to dawn on her, a silent chortle bubbling up her throat from the encouragement she just received. Guess she really is GodJihyo as people claimed, Momo admits to herself.

She takes the gummy with a lopsided smile. “MiMo, huh?”

*

The next day, Momo almost missed her afternoon class, arriving just an hour before it ends. The professor gave her a disapproved look but still took her attendance since she’s one of his favorite students. Momo gladly jot down some notes despite the lecture almost finishing, her eyes couldn’t stop glancing at the paper bag she brought along. Talking with Jihyo had made her realized the main reason why Mina had fallen for her in the first place.

It’s a long shot, but Momo trust her instinct, her skills, to make Mina forgive her.

She was such in a rush to prepare the food, her small fridge scarce of ingredients. She tried to make do with what she has, improvising at its best, and hopefully the home-cooked meal and dessert will be the peacemaker between Mina and her.

She blows into her hands to keep them warm, the evening air getting slightly colder since it’s nearing winter. Her legs bounced together to keep the chill at bay as she cast a glance in trepidation at the lobby entrance each time a student walk out. She quickly jumps on her feet at the sight of the penguin appearing from the door. 

“Mina!”

Knowing the familiar voice, the vice president ignores it by looking straight ahead and quickening her pace. Momo managed to catch up, snatching her arm to a stop.

“Hey...”

“What?”

Momo gulped, terrified from Mina’s grudging tone. She lifts the paper bag with a strained smile.

“Here, for you.”

“Not hungry.” She responded without a beat, before stepping aside to leave. Momo quickly ran after her, holding Mina’s arm to stop the latter from ignoring her again.

“Wait, please just– listen to me, please?”

“There’s nothing else to say. I’ve seen everything with my own eyes.”

Momo desperately clings to the arm slightly tugging to be released. “It was a misunderstanding, Mina. Please, let’s talk about this and let me explain.”

“Let go of me.”

It feels like forever, but she finally managed to meet eyes with Mina. However, they weren't the same pair Momo came to love; she's glaring back, dark circles and weariness apparent. She sees glint of remorse and sadness, of betrayal and disappointment. Momo can feel them, Mina made sure she conveys her inner turmoil by her pair of beautiful soft eyes that had lost the warmth they usually emits.

It was because of Momo; she did that.

Her grip loosen, Mina taking the chance to pull away and step aside to leave. Her retreating figure snaps Momo out of her trance as she runs after the vice president. No, she can't stop now. This is her only chance; Momo has to make things right again. It's now or never.

“Mina, I’m begging you–”

**_PAK!_ **

Momo was stunned. A stinging pain slowly spread on her skin, her cheek getting warm from the unexpected slap. She glanced at her empty hand, the paper bag she held was thrown on the floor, the content spilled on the dirty ground.

“M-Mina…”

Her eyes blurry, her chest twinged.

“I’ve had enough”

She heard a crack inside.

“I don’t want to see you anymore, Hirai.”

Her heart throbs, incessantly shattering with every beat. It pains to breathe, her throat choking with every inhale. Her fingers loss the sensation, she can’t feel the cold at all.

For the first time in her life, Momo feels the ache of a broken heart still in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know MiMo just happened today, but I need to update this because I wanted to, tehee. This chapter is not as good as I thought it would be, but it works out in the end I guess? What are your thoughts?
> 
> Side note: [ふざけんな] read as [fu-za-ken-na] which literally means "Don't mess around" or "You're kidding me" or any of the offensive sound-alike that goes *beep* so you can imagine Sana actually spews an F word but there's no such thing in Japanese but I want to make it relatable so... there you go?
> 
> Spoiler: Next chapter we will talk about a raccoon and her penguin partner from the perspective of a certain star wars character *wraaaghhrr*
> 
> Thank you for reading and take care! ^^


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